603 research outputs found
Soil carbon budget account for the sustainability improvement of a Mediterranean vineyard area
Sustainable viticulture is suggested as an interesting strategy for achieving the objectives of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction in terms of mitigation and adaptation. However, knowledge and quantification of the contribution of sustainable vineyard management on climate change impact are needed. Although it is widely assessed by several authors that the agricultural stage has a great impact in the wine chain, very few studies have evaluated the greenhouse gas emission in this phase including the ability of soil to sequester carbon (C) or the off-farm C loss by erosion. This work aimed to provide a vineyard carbon budget (vCB) tool to quantify the impact of grape production on GHG emission including the effects of environmental characteristics and agricultural practices. The vCB was estimated considering four different soil management scenarios: conventional tillage (CT), temporary cover crop with a leguminous species in alternate inter-rows (ACC), temporary cover crop with a leguminous species (CC), permanent cover crop (PCC). The estimation of vCB was applied at territory level in a viticulture area in Sicily (2468 ha of vineyard) using empirical data. Results of the present study showed that the environmental characteristics strongly affect the sustainability of vineyard management; the highest contribution to total CO2 emission is, in fact, given by the C losses by erosion in sloping vineyards. Soils of studied vineyards are a source of CO2 due to the low C inputs and high mineralization rate, except for soil managed by CC which can sequester soil C, contributing positively to vCB. The highest total CO2 emission was estimated in vineyards under CT management (2.31 t haâ1yâ1), followed by CC (1.27 t haâ1yâ1), ACC (0.69 t haâ1yâ1) and PCC (0.64 t haâ1yâ1). Findings of vCB applied at territory level highlighted the key role of the evaluation of carbon budget (CB) on a larger scale to identify the CO2 emission in relation to climatic and environmental factors. The present study could contribute to provide suggestions to policymakers and farmers for reducing GHG emissions and promote more sustainable grape production practices
Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor monotherapy or combined with verteporfin photodynamic therapy for retinal angiomatous proliferation: a systematic review with meta-analysis
Purpose: To assess functional and anatomical outcomes of intravitreal anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (anti-VEGF) monotherapy versus combined with verteporfin Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) for Retinal Angiomatous Proliferation (RAP). Methods: Studies reporting outcomes of intravitreal anti-VEGF monotherapy and/or in combination with verteporfin PDT in RAP eyes with a follow-up ℠12 months were searched. The primary outcome was the mean change in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at 12 months. Mean change in central macular thickness (CMT) and mean number of injections were considered as secondary outcomes. The mean difference (MD) between pre- and post-treatment values was calculated along with 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI). Meta-regressions were performed to assess the influence of anti-VEGF number of injections on BCVA and CMT outcomes. Results: Thirty-four studies were included. A mean gain of 5.16 letters (95% CI = 3.30-7.01) and 10.38 letters (95% CI = 8.02-12.75) was shown in the anti-VEGF group and combined group, respectively (anti-VEGF group vs. combined group, p < 0.01). A mean CMT reduction of 132.45 ”m (95% CI = from -154.99 to -109.90) and 213.93 ”m (95% CI = from -280.04 to -147.83) was shown in the anti-VEGF group and combined group, respectively (anti-VEGF group vs. combined group, p < 0.02). A mean of 4.9 injections (95% CI = 4.2-5.6) and 2.8 injections (95% CI = 1.3-4.4) were administered over a 12-month period in the anti-VEGF group and combined group, respectively. Meta-regression analyses showed no influence of injection number on visual and CMT outcomes. High heterogeneity was found across studies for both functional and anatomical outcomes. Conclusion: A combined approach with anti-VEGF and PDT could provide better functional and anatomical outcomes in RAP eyes compared with anti-VEGF monotherapy
Effect of solid waste landfill organic pollutants on groundwater in three areas of Sicily (Italy) characterized by different vulnerability
The aim of this study was to obtain information on the presence and levels of hazardous organic pollutants in groundwater located close to solid waste landfills. Eighty-two environmental contaminants, including 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), 20 volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 29 polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), 7 dioxins (polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, PCDDs) and 10 furans (polychlorinated dibenzofurans, PCDFs) were monitored in areas characterised by different geological environments surrounding three municipal solid waste landfills (Palermo, Siculiana and Ragusa) in Sicily (Italy) in three sampling campaigns. The total concentrations of the 16 PAHs were always below the legal threshold. Overall, the Fl/Fl + Py diagnostic ratio revealed that PAHs had a petrogenic origin. VOC levels, except for two notable exceptions near Palermo landfill, were always below the legal limit. As concerns PCB levels, several samples were found positive with levels exceeding the legal limits. It is worth noting that the % PCB distribution differs from that of commercial compositions. In parallel, some samples of groundwater containing PCDDs and PCDFs exceeding the legal threshold were also found. Among the 17 congeners monitored, the most abundant were the highest molecular weight ones
Giacomo Serpotta e il "pareggiamento delle arti": la decorazione degli oratori fra manipolazione vitalistica e vocazione classicista
ABSTRACT
GIACOMO SERPOTTA AND THE âEQUALIZATION OF THE ARTSâ: DECORATION OF THE ORATORIES BETWEEN VITALISTIC MANIPULATION AND CLASSICIST VOCATION
Ettore Sessa
The value of the whole of Giacomo Serpotta's artistic vision in the orchestration of the figuÂŹrative apparatuses of his oratories was certainly one of the principal primers of his historical-critical raising in the modernist period. In 1901 Mauceri and in 1911 Ricci and Basile heighten a profile of it, however synthetic, of angling and above all of different breath from the rediscovery realized in positivist age.
Classifiable, in fact, among the eighteenth century precedents of Gesamtkunstwerk aesthetical plant (according to a rather diffused custom within the artistic historiography of modernist culturaI area or of decadentist origin, as in different formalistic demonstrations of the wealthiest society Belle Ăpoque) the progress of Serpottas artistic way towards tangible expressions of the idea of «the whole work of art» has a unmistakable imÂŹprint of his and, at the same time, a feasibility thanks to the plasticism of gestures and to the uniÂŹtary multiplicity of his modeled.
In his oratories arrangements the "realist" component, not exempted from hedonistic sensual witty remarks, acts on a foundation of Hellenic taste (also in the use of profiles and architectural elements). With wise modulation and with dosing diversified for intensity, according the nature of the subjects, combines history (see the «teatrini» with perspective sceneries, among which the Lepanto battle), micro history (from feminine allegorical subjects, to attractive dames modernly adorned with ends and brocades, to "picciotti" proudly ragged and to the anecdotal of the daily life), mysticism (from the devotional subjects to the allegories of the virtues), obscurity (from numerological components to philosophical attributes) and, finally, mythology (from the allegorical correspondences between Christianity and paganism to classical simbology).
Despite the actual halving of this group of oratories (was destroyed by traumatic events as earthquakes and war actions, or by villainous demolitions big part of Serpottas works, among which the SS. Sacrament oratories to Kalsa and those of Saint Maria del Ponticello), the comparison among the palermitan examples reached us entire allows the individualization of the characters of originality typical of the generaI composition, over that of those figurative unanimously accredited among the most valid of the late- Baroque European sculpture.
The typical scheme of these oratories, places with a strong secular imprint (predisposed as for cultural reunions how as for the preclusive congregational assemblies, to which the only ones not admitted affiliate were the artists), has as constants: the hall with a rectangular plant; the skiff or pavilion vault with plaster decorations dissimulating the constructive geometry; the sculptural wall register above of a high plinth; windows on the greatest sides (in number of three); two doors in the counterfacade, originally with desk for the assemblies in central position, below the principal devotional allegorical composition.
The first oratory to which Giacomo Serpotta imposes an unitary imprint, except the cappellone only defined between 1717 and the following year) is that of SS. Rosary in S. Cita; he has worked since 1685 to 1688 on behalf of SS. Rosary Company. Serpotta is twenty nine, but already since almost ten years, after the apprenticeship with subordinate roles, he showed himself almost beginning in mute with the decorations of Madonna of the Pity church in Monreale, where he operated like Procopio De' Ferrari's collaborator, and perhaps with his interventions in 1678 in the lateral walls of S. Mercurio oratory, to which follow the 1679 decoration works in the Charity oratory in St. Bartholomeo of the Incurable people (no more existing), perhaps S. Pietro and S. Paolo statues dating back to 1680 for the greatest altar in Gancia church, the marble model for Charles H's equestrian monument for Messina (then realized in 1684) and during the two years 1683-1684 the scenic decorations for the transept altars of Carmine Maggiore church (where he collaborates with his brother Giuseppe and realizes the couples of twisted columns gilded and commented by a theory of plaster miniature scenes disposed according to a spiral development). Immediately after S. Cita oratory he realized, between 1688 and 1691, the decorative apparatuses of the Sacrament oratory in S. NicolĂČ to Kalsa (destroyed because of 1823 earthquake).
Only eight years after the completion of this work (about which it was hypothesized that it were an advancement in comparison to the intervention in S. Cita) Giacomo Serpotta is entrusted by S. Francesco from Assisi and S. Lorenzo Companies to realize the complex allegorical and explanatory cycle of the plasters of S. Lorenzo oratoÂŹry. He worked partly on Giacomo Amato's sketches (to which are probably owed the reform interventions that confer to this oratory a great architectural "squaring" in comparison to others), completing the presbytery within 1706, while already from 1701 he is busy in the definition of the walls. In 1703 he began the counter facade with the monumental wall framework and high-relief representation of St. Lorenzo Martyrdom
Organizing national responses for rare blood disorders: the Italian experience with sickle cell disease in childhood
Background
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most frequent hemoglobinopathy worldwide but remains a rare blood disorder in most western countries. Recommendations for standard of care have been produced in the United States, the United Kingdom and France, where this disease is relatively frequent because of earlier immigration from Africa. These recommendations have changed the clinical course of SCD but can be difficult to apply in other contexts. The Italian Association of Pediatric Hematology Oncology (AIEOP) decided to develop a common national response to the rising number of SCD patients in Italy with the following objectives: 1) to create a national working group focused on pediatric SCD, and 2) to develop tailored guidelines for the management of SCD that could be accessed and practiced by those involved in the care of children with SCD in Italy.
Methods
Guidelines, adapted to the Italian social context and health system, were developed by 22 pediatric hematologists representing 54 AIEOP centers across Italy. The group met five times for a total of 128 hours in 22 months; documents and opinions were circulated via web.
Results
Recommendations regarding the prevention and treatment of the most relevant complications of SCD in childhood adapted to the Italian context and health system were produced.
For each topic, a pathway of diagnosis and care is detailed, and a selection of health management issues crucial to Italy or different from other countries is described (i.e., use of alternatives for infection prophylaxis because of the lack of oral penicillin in Italy).
Conclusions
Creating a network of physicians involved in the day-to-day care of children with SCD is feasible in a country where it remains rare. Providing hematologists, primary and secondary care physicians, and caregivers across the country with web-based guidelines for the management of SCD tailored to the Italian context is the first step in building a sustainable response to a rare but emerging childhood blood disorder and in implementing the World Health Organization\u2019s suggestion \u201cto design (and) implement \u2026 comprehensive national integrated programs for the prevention and management of SCD"
Study of Spin and Decay-Plane Correlations of W Bosons in the e+e- -> W+W- Process at LEP
Data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass energies \sqrt(s) = 189 - 209 GeV are
used to study correlations of the spin of W bosons using e+e- -> W+W- -> lnqq~
events. Spin correlations are favoured by data, and found to agree with the
Standard Model predictions. In addition, correlations between the W-boson decay
planes are studied in e+e- -> W+W- -> lnqq~ and e+e- -> W+W- -> qq~qq~ events.
Decay-plane correlations, consistent with zero and with the Standard Model
predictions, are measured
Ultrarelativistic sources in nonlinear electrodynamics
The fields of rapidly moving sources are studied within nonlinear
electrodynamics by boosting the fields of sources at rest. As a consequence of
the ultrarelativistic limit the delta-like electromagnetic shock waves are
found. The character of the field within the shock depends on the theory of
nonlinear electrodynamics considered. In particular, we obtain the field of an
ultrarelativistic charge in the Born-Infeld theory.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure
Measurement of the Cross Section for Open-Beauty Production in Photon-Photon Collisions at LEP
The cross section for open-beauty production in photon-photon collisions is
measured using the whole high-energy and high-luminosity data sample collected
by the L3 detector at LEP. This corresponds to 627/pb of integrated luminosity
for electron-positron centre-of-mass energies from 189GeV to 209GeV. Events
containing b quarks are identified through their semi-leptonic decay into
electrons or muons. The e+e- -> e+e-b b~X cross section is measured within our
fiducial volume and then extrapolated to the full phase space. These results
are found to be in significant excess with respect to Monte Carlo predictions
and next-to-leading order QCD calculations
Search for Branons at LEP
We search, in the context of extra-dimension scenarios, for the possible
existence of brane fluctuations, called branons. Events with a single photon or
a single Z-boson and missing energy and momentum collected with the L3 detector
in e^+ e^- collisions at centre-of-mass energies sqrt{s}=189-209$ GeV are
analysed. No excess over the Standard Model expectations is found and a lower
limit at 95% confidence level of 103 GeV is derived for the mass of branons,
for a scenario with small brane tensions. Alternatively, under the assumption
of a light branon, brane tensions below 180 GeV are excluded
Measurement of Exclusive rho^0 rho^0 Production in Two-Photon Collisions at High Q^2 at LEP
Exclusive rho rho production in two-photon collisions involving a single
highly virtual photon is studied with data collected at LEP at centre-of-mass
energies 89GeV < \sqrt{s} < 209GeV with a total integrated luminosity of
854.7pb^-1 The cross section of the process gamma gamma^* -> rho rho is
determined as a function of the photon virtuality, Q^2 and the two-photon
centre-of-mass energy, Wgg, in the kinematic region: 1.2GeV^2 < Q^2 < 30GeV^2
and 1.1GeV < Wgg < 3GeV
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