The Historical Development of the Port of Livorno (Italy) and Its New Port Plan 2010 in Advanced Stage of Elaboration

The geographical location makes the port of Livorno one of the most important in Italy. The port, in fact, benefits of an extended network of roads and rails connecting it with the rest of Italy, and central and southern Europe as well. The history of Livorno and its port is inextricably linked to that of Pisa and Florence, and to the complexity of events that determined the political set-up of the region along several centuries. Looking at the new port plan of Livorno has made it necessary an extensive overview of the history of both the port, and of its planning. This analysis has allowed: to understand the reason for the different choices made in the past for the development of the port, highlighting, when necessary, the errors made; to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the existing port infrastructure; to identify the works needed to boost the port in the European context. The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of the analysis performed for the implementation of the new Livorno port plan 2010 and show how the port planning in Italy is often conditioned by hundreds of centuries of history

Cooperative Learning in the Implementation of Teaching Chemistry (Didactic Instrumentation) in Engineering in México

AbstractIn engineering you think of chemistry as a difficult and boring subject. Some professors who are teaching it, have seen apathy and lack of interest in the students. This paper presents some findings of an investigation done which allowed to listen to the voice of 250 Mexican students regarding the usefulness of cooperative learning in chemistry. An exploratory-descriptive methodology was applied, together with a pretest and a post-test. By implementing the Cooperative Learning, the importance of the positive interdependence for critical thinking was appraised and a move away was detected from the theoretical content and meaning of the everyday context of the students

Developing biodiversity assessment on a stand forest type management level in north-eastern Italy

This paper discusses a simple operative proposal, elaborated by a team of advisers to the Forestry Service of the Veneto administrative region (north-eastern Italy), concerning the definition of stand-level forest type biodiversity indicators and biodiversity oriented management provisions. Such tools are conceived to transfer biodiversity conservation understanding in current forest stand management practices. The developed assessment system is targeted to: maintenance and increase of the variability of forest landscape mosaic; conservation of species variability; creation of resource reservoirs. The following criteria and indicators are taken into consideration: spatial pattern (widespreadness, connectedness, species contagion potential), forest structure (uneven aged stands: percent of trees in three broad diameter classes; even aged stands: number of development stages and surface of each development stage), herbs/shrubs species (average, minimum and maximum number of species; average number of short-lived herb/ shrub species recorded in minimal anthropic disturbance conditions; dynamic trend in the number of herb/shrub species), bird species (average, minimum and maximum number of species); overall naturalistic quality (flora; vegetation; fauna). Such indicators are proposed as biodiversity reference standards for each forest type in the considered region: they provide practical baseline information with which forest stand management efficiency in achieving biodiversity targets can be compared

A forest typology for monitoring sustainable forest management: The case of European Forest Types

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is presently widely accepted as the overriding objective for forest policy and practice. Regional processes are in progress all over the world to develop and implement criteria and indicators of SFM. In continental Europe, a set of 35 Pan-European indicators has been endorsed under the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) to measure progress towards SFM in the 44 countries of the region. The formulation of seven indicators (forest area, growing stock, age structure/diameter distribution, deadwood, tree species composition, damaging agents, naturalness) requires national data to be reported by forest types. Within the vast European forest area the values taken by these indicators show a considerable range of variation, due to variable natural conditions and anthropogenic influences. Given this variability, it is very difficult to grasp the meaning of these indicators when taken out of their ecological background. The paper discusses the concepts behind, and the requirements of, a classification more soundly ecologically framed and suitable for MCPFE reporting than the three (un-informative) classes adopted so far: broadleaved forest, coniferous forest, mixed broadleaved and coniferous forest. We propose a European Forest Types scheme structured into a reasonably higher number of classes, that would improve the specificity of the indicators reported under the MCPFE process and its understanding.L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore www.tandf.co.uk/journals

Prenatal tobacco smoke exposure increases hospitalizations for bronchiolitis in infants

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) is a worldwide health problem and it is considered a risk factor for pregnant women's and children's health, particularly for respiratory morbidity during the first year of life. Few significant birth cohort studies on the effect of prenatal TSE via passive and active maternal smoking on the development of severe bronchiolitis in early childhood have been carried out worldwide. METHODS: From November 2009 to December 2012, newborns born at ≥ 33 weeks of gestational age (wGA) were recruited in a longitudinal multi-center cohort study in Italy to investigate the effects of prenatal and postnatal TSE, among other risk factors, on bronchiolitis hospitalization and/or death during the first year of life. RESULTS: Two thousand two hundred ten newborns enrolled at birth were followed-up during their first year of life. Of these, 120 (5.4%) were hospitalized for bronchiolitis. No enrolled infants died during the study period. Prenatal passive TSE and maternal active smoking of more than 15 cigarettes/daily are associated to a significant increase of the risk of offspring children hospitalization for bronchiolitis, with an adjHR of 3.5 (CI 1.5-8.1) and of 1.7 (CI 1.1-2.6) respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results confirm the detrimental effects of passive TSE and active heavy smoke during pregnancy for infants' respiratory health, since the exposure significantly increases the risk of hospitalization for bronchiolitis in the first year of lif

Antimicrobial evaluation of a methanol extract of Beauveria bassiana against pathogenic bacteria of nosocomial importance

Objetivo: Se evaluó la actividad antimicrobiana de un extracto crudo de B. bassiana y dos fracciones del mismo contra bacterias de importancia clínica. Métodos: El micelio de cepa B. bassiana se remojó en metanol durante una semana, después se evaporo en un rotovapor a 45°C aplicando vacío. El extracto metanólico se hizo pasar con dos fases móviles para obtener una fracción A y B. La fracciones A, B y el extracto crudo C se evaluaron contra las cepas Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella tiphy, Pseudomonas aeruginosa y Acinetobacter baumannii con la técnica de microdilución en placa. Resultados: En la fracción A se observó un efecto antimicrobiano contra Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa y Acinetobacter baumannii el crecimiento bacteriano alcanzó el 70, 60 y 83 % respectivamente. La fracción B causó un efecto antimicrobiano en Klebsiella pneumoniae, S. typhi, P. aeruginosa y A. baumannii con un crecimiento bacteriano del 62, 58, 41 y 7 % respectivamente. Y El extracto crudo no causó inhibición del crecimiento en A. baumannii, pero para el resto de la bacterias hubo un crecimiento del 56 al 88 %. Conclusiones: Beauveria bassiana es un hongo entomopatógeno que produce diferentes metabolitos con actividad insecticida, citotóxica, antifúngica, antibiótica y antiviral. Este es el primer estudio de los efectos antimicrobianos de un extracto metanólico del hongo entomopatógeno B. bassiana contra cepas bacterianas de importancia clínica.Objective: The antimicrobial activity of a crude extract of B. bassiana and two fractions thereof against clinically important bacteria was evaluated. Methods: The mycelium of strain B. bassiana was soaked in methanol for a week, then it was evaporated in a rotovap at 45 ° C applying a vacuum. The methanolic extract was passed through two mobile phases to obtain a fraction A and B. Fractions A, B and crude extract C were evaluated against the strains Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Salmonella tiphy, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii with the plate microdilution technique. Results: In fraction A an antimicrobial effect against Salmonella typhi, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii was observed, bacterial growth reached 70, 60 and 83% respectively. Fraction B caused an antimicrobial effect in Klebsiella pneumoniae, S. typhi, P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii with a bacterial growth of 62, 58, 41 and 7% respectively. And the crude extract did not cause growth inhibition in A. baumannii, but for the rest of the bacteria there was a growth of 56 to 88%. Conclusions: Beauveria bassiana is an entomopathogenic fungus that produces different metabolites with insecticidal, cytotoxic, antifungal, antibiotic and antiviral activity. This is the first study of the antimicrobial effects of a methanolic extract of the entomopathogenic fungus B. bassiana against bacterial strains of clinical importance

Risk factors for bronchiolitis hospitalization during the first year of life in a multicenter Italian birth cohort

BACKGROUND: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is one of the main causes of respiratory infections during the first year of life. Very premature infants may contract more severe diseases and 'late preterm infants' may also be more susceptible to the infection. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risk factors for hospitalization during the first year of life in children born at different gestational ages in Italy. METHODS: A cohort of 33-34 weeks gestational age (wGA) newborns matched by sex and age with two cohort of newborns born at 35-37 wGA and > 37 wGA were enrolled in this study for a three-year period (2009-2012). Hospitalization for bronchiolitis (ICD-9 code 466.1) during the first year of life was assessed through phone interview at the end of the RSV season (November-March) and at the completion of the first year of life. RESULTS: The study enrolled 2314 newborns, of which 2210 (95.5 %) had a one year follow-up and were included in the analysis; 120 (5.4 %) were hospitalized during the first year of life for bronchiolitis. Children born at 33-34 wGA had a higher hospitalization rate compared to the two other groups. The multivariate analysis carried out on the entire population associated the following factors with higher rates for bronchiolitis hospitalization: male gender; prenatal treatment with corticosteroids; prenatal exposure to maternal smoking; singleton delivery; respiratory diseases in neonatal period; surfactant therapy; lack of breastfeeding; siblings <10 years old; living in crowded conditions and/or in unhealthy households and early exposure to the epidemic RSV season. When analysis was restricted to preterms born at 33-34 wGA the following variables were associated to higher rates of bronchiolitis hospitalization: male gender, prenatal exposure to maternal smoking, neonatal surfactant therapy, having siblings <10 years old, living in crowded conditions and being exposed to epidemic season during the first three months of life. CONCLUSION: Our study identified some prenatal, perinatal and postnatal conditions proving to be relevant and independent risk factors for hospitalization for bronchiolitis during the first year of life. The combination of these factors may lead to consider palivizumab prophylaxis in Italy

TALENTO MOTOR: ESTUDO EXPLORATÓRIO EM ESCOLARES DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

Encontrar indivíduos com talento é uma das preocupações de inúmeras áreas do conhecimento e se justifica pelo fato destas pessoas terem índices superiores, em alguma característica, em relação aos outros indivíduos de sua população, tendo assim, grande chance de excelência na realização das tarefas inerentes ao seu contexto. Impulsionados por isto, o objetivo deste estudo foi identificar a ocorrência de escolares que apresentam, perante o seu grupo, níveis significativos superiores de desempenho (percentil 98) nos componentes da bateria de testes de referenciada a detecção de talento motor (DTM). Para isto contamos com uma amostra de 3945 crianças e adolescentes, com idades entre 12 e 17 anos. Os componentes da aptidão física referenciada a detecção de talento motor (DTM) avaliados foram: (a) Força explosiva de membros superiores, (b) Força explosiva de membros, (c)Velocidade de deslocamento, (d) Agilidade, e (e) Resistência geral. Utilizamos como referência para a determinação de talento motor o percentil 98 (p98). Na análise dos dados foi usada a estatística descritiva. Os resultados demonstraram que cerca de 5,7% e 4,6% para meninos e meninas respectivamente atingiram o critério em pelo menos 1 dos testes da bateria DTM, sendo que apenas 0,3% dos escolares apresentaram índices superiores ao p98 em 2 testes. Após as análises, podemos concluir que estes indivíduos que possuem excelentes índices nas capacidades motoras são de fato talentos motores, tendo suas chances significativamente aumentadas de participarem de práticas esportivas bem sucedidas

Gram-negative prosthetic joint infection: outcome of a debridement, antibiotics and implant retention approach. A large multicentre study

AbstractWe aim to evaluate the epidemiology and outcome of gram-negative prosthetic joint infection (GN-PJI) treated with debridement, antibiotics and implant retention (DAIR), identify factors predictive of failure, and determine the impact of ciprofloxacin use on prognosis. We performed a retrospective, multicentre, observational study of GN-PJI diagnosed from 2003 through to 2010 in 16 Spanish hospitals. We define failure as persistence or reappearance of the inflammatory joint signs during follow-up, leading to unplanned surgery or repeat debridement >30 days from the index surgery related death, or suppressive antimicrobial therapy. Parameters predicting failure were analysed with a Cox regression model. A total of 242 patients (33% men; median age 76 years, interquartile range (IQR) 68–81) with 242 episodes of GN-PJI were studied. The implants included 150 (62%) hip, 85 (35%) knee, five (2%) shoulder and two (1%) elbow prostheses. There were 189 (78%) acute infections. Causative microorganisms were Enterobacteriaceae in 78%, Pseudomonas spp. in 20%, and other gram-negative bacilli in 2%. Overall, 19% of isolates were ciprofloxacin resistant. DAIR was used in 174 (72%) cases, with an overall success rate of 68%, which increased to 79% after a median of 25 months' follow-up in ciprofloxacin-susceptible GN-PJIs treated with ciprofloxacin. Ciprofloxacin treatment exhibited an independent protective effect (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.23; 95% CI, 0.13–0.40; p <0.001), whereas chronic renal impairment predicted failure (aHR, 2.56; 95% CI, 1.14–5.77; p 0.0232). Our results confirm a 79% success rate in ciprofloxacin-susceptible GN-PJI treated with debridement, ciprofloxacin and implant retention. New therapeutic strategies are needed for ciprofloxacin-resistant PJI

Antioxidant and Antitumor Activity of a Bioactive Polyphenolic Fraction Isolated from the Brewing Process

There is increasing interest in identifying natural bioactive compounds that can improve mitochondrial functionality and regulate apoptosis. The brewery industry generates wastewater that could yield a natural extract containing bioactive phenolic compounds. Polyphenols act as antioxidants and have been documented to protect the human body from degenerative diseases such as cardiovascular diseases or cancer. The main aims of our research were to determine the phenolic profile of a crude extract obtained (at pilot scale) from a brewery waste stream and to evaluate the biochemical activity of this extract on the mitochondrial function of a cancer cell line (SH-SY5Y). This work is a basic translational pilot study. The total phenolic content was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu assay, which revealed that 2.30% of the extract consisted of phenolic compounds. The polyphenols, identified and quantified by reverse-phase-high-performance liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC/MS), were mainly flavonoids. After cell culture, the tumoral cells treated with the polyphenolic extract showed enhanced mitochondrial oxidative function, which is likely related to a decrease in oxidative stress and an increase in mitochondrial biogenesis. This type of brewery waste stream, properly treated, may be a promising source of natural antioxidants to replace the synthetic antioxidants currently used in the food industry