Anthropization processes and protection of the environment: an assessment of land cover changes in Sardinia, Italy

Protection of the environment is implemented through preventive and mitigating measures aimed at hindering anthropization processes. These measures may possibly entail the establishment of natural protected areas and sites where conservation measures are stated under the provisions of the “Habitats” Directive (no. 92/43/EEC) and Directive no. 2009/147/EC (the so-called “Birds” Directive, which modifies Directive no. 79/409/EEC). A straightforward way of assessing widespread anthropization processes consists in analyzing land cover changes related artificialization processes concerning natural areas. In this study, we assess land cover changes by using the simplified land cover taxonomy of the Land and Ecosystem Account classes and by analyzing transition processes; in addition, we propose a comparative appraisal of land cover changes occurring in areas characterized by different protection regimes, as follows: areas protected under the provisions of national or regional acts or regulations, sites belonging to the Natura 2000 network, that is protected under the Habitats or Birds Directives, and unprotected areas. We analyze anthropization processes that take place in Sardinia, an Italian insular region characterized by the presence of several national and regional protected areas and by a significant system of Natura 2000 sites, and assess land cover changes over a twelve-year period (2000-2012). The outcomes of our study put in evidence important lessons related to the definition and implementation of planning policies aiming at preventing anthropization processes in Sardinia. Moreover, the assessment methodology we implement in our study can be exported to other European regions in order to set up planning processes which fit the local features of land cover changes

Culture-Based Practices as Driver of Local Development Processes in Mountain Areas—Evidence from the Alpine Region of the Province of Cuneo (Italy)

: Over the last few decades, Alpine communities have been affected by many social, cultural, economic and demographic changes that have challenged the hegemonic development models of the 20th century and questioned the city–country cleavage. Nevertheless, the huge potential expressed by culture-based practices in low-density areas—such as the Alps—still represents an unexplored f ield of research. In order to progress in research in the field, through the analysis of a case study in the Italian Western Alps (Cuneo, Piedmont Region), the article proposes a new methodology of analysis and highlights that new places of cultural production are emerging and that the related culture-based practices can play the role of driver of innovative and sustainable development paths

Green Infrastructure and Regional Planning: An Operational Framework

Identifying and planning green infrastructures at the regional scale can be considered an intentional way of spreading the positive impacts of environmental conservation policies across spatial contexts much more complex and larger than protected areas. In this volume, a methodological approach is defined and experimentally implemented into the Sardinian region (Italy), in order to identify both a regional green infrastructure, and a network of ecological corridors, conceived as edges connecting the regional protected areas. This approach supports spatial decision-making processes aimed at addressing environmental hazards connected to landslides and floods, as well as at establishing effective spatial planning rules

Strengthening a regional green infrastructure through improved multifunctionality and connectedness: Policy suggestions from Sardinia, Italy

A wide body of research in the latest years has studied either green infrastructures as providers of multiple ecosystem services, especially at the urban level, or ecological corridors and the issue of connectivity between landscape patches in the face of growing fragmentation. However, not many studies have analyzed how the two concepts can be combined to ground evidence-based policy and planning recommendations. In this study, a methodological approach for such combination is proposed: after mapping a regional green infrastructure building upon the assessment of multiple ecosystem services, and a network of ecological corridors through resistance to movement of species, the two spatial layouts are combined so as to analyze correlations between the potential provision of ecosystem services and the resistance to movement. The methodology is applied in the case of the island of Sardinia, whose self-containment makes it possible to discard potential effects from surrounding areas, hence facilitating the implementation of the model. The outcomes of the regression model point out to three ecosystem services as the most important factors that should be targeted by appropriate spatial policies, if connectivity is to be increased: regulation of micro and local climate, forestry productivity, and cultural identity and heritage values

Apeced in Turkey: a case report and insights on genetic and phenotypic variability

APECED is a rare monogenic recessive disorder caused by mutations in the AIRE gene. In this manuscript, we report a male Turkish patient with APECED syndrome who presented with chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis associated with other autoimmune manifestations developed over the years. The presence of the homozygous R257X mutation of the AIRE gene confirmed the diagnosis of APECED syndrome. We further performed literature review in 23 published Turkish APECED patients and noted that Finnish major mutation R257X is common in Turks. In particular, we assessed retrospectively how often the Ferre/Lionakis criteria would have resulted in earlier diagnosis in Finns, Sardinians and Turks in respect to the classic criteria. Since an earlier diagnosis could have been possible in 18.8% of Turkish, in 23.8% of Sardinian and 38.55% of Finnish patients we reviewed from literature, Ferre/Lionakis criteria could indeed allow in future earlier initiation of immunomodulatory treatments, if found effective in future studies

A novel homozygous mutation of the AIRE gene in an APECED patient from Pakistan: case report and review of the literature

Autoimmune-poly-endocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal-dystrophy syndrome (APECED) is a rare monogenic recessive disorder caused by mutations in the autoimmune regulator (AIRE) gene. Criteria for the diagnosis of APECED are the presence of two of the following disorders: chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC), chronic hypoparathyroidism (CHP), and Addison's disease. APECED develops at high incidence in Finns, Sardinians, and Iranian Jews and presents with a wide range of clinical phenotypes and genotypes. In this manuscript, we report the clinical, endocrinological, and molecular features of a 16-year-old female patient from Pakistan living in Italy and presenting the major APECED clinical manifestations CMC, CHP, and primary adrenal insufficiency. Premature ovarian failure, chronic bronchopneumopathy, vitiligo, Hashimoto's thyroiditis emerged as associated diseases. In our patient, AIRE gene screening revealed the novel c.396G > C (p. Arg132Ser; p. R132S) mutation in homozygosity thus confirming APECED diagnosis. This is the first reported mutation within the nuclear localization signal (NLS) that is associated with APECED. The NLS mutation affects the nuclear import of classical transcription factors through nuclear pore by recognition of nuclear import receptors, the importin a molecules. By displaying crystal structures of the peptide containing the KRK basic residue cluster bound to a importins, we show that p. R132S replacement in 131-KRK-133 does not reproduce these interactions. Thus, we propose that the novel mutation exerts its pathogenetic effect by impairing the nuclear import of the Aire protein. The present case report is added to a limited series of Pakistani APECED patients who we reviewed from the scientific literature, mostly diagnosed on clinical findings