Estimating the Isotopic Altitude Gradient for Hydrogeological Studies in Mountainous Areas: Are the Low-Yield Springs Suitable? Insights from the Northern Apennines of Italy

Several prior studies investigated the use of stable isotopes of water in hydrogeological applications, most on a local scale and often involving the isotopic gradient (evaluated by exploiting the so-called altitude effect), calculated on the basis of rainwater isotopes. A few times, this gradient has been obtained using the stable isotopic contents of low-yield springs in a limited time series. Despite the fact that this method has been recognized by the hydrogeological community, marked differences have been observed with respect to the mean stable isotopes content of groundwater and rainwater. The present investigation compares the stable isotopic signatures of 23 low-yield springs discharging along two transects from the Tyrrhenian sea to the Po Plain of Italy, evaluates the different isotopic gradients and assesses their distribution in relation to some climatic and topographic conditions. Stable isotopes of water show that groundwater in the study area is recharged by precipitation and that the precipitation regime in the eastern portion of the study area is strongly controlled by a shadow effect caused by the Alps chain on the air masses from central Europe. Stable isotopes (in particular the d18O and deuterium excess (d-excess) contents together with the obtained isotopic gradients) allow us to identify in the study area an opposite oriented orographic effect and a different provenance of the air masses. When the windward slope is located on the Tyrrhenian side, the precipitation shows a predominant oceanic origin; when the windward slope moves to the Adriatic side, the precipitation is characterized by a continental origin. The main results of this study confirm the usefulness of low-yield springs and the need for a highly detailed survey-scale hydrological investigation in the mountainous context

Nutrizione iodica globale nel 2020

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Does socioeconomic status matter? The fertility transition in a northern Italian village (marriage cohorts 1900‒1940)

Background: The paper explores the mechanisms of the European fertility transition in northern Italy by social group. Objective: Our objective is to understand when and in which sectors of a rural society the reduction of family size began. We focus on Emilia-Romagna, a region that in the 1990s had the lowest fertility level in Italy. The core purpose of this paper is the analysis of socioeconomic status (SES) fertility differentials, especially between rural sharecroppers and landless rural workers, as well as other non-agricultural groups. Methods: Our analysis focuses on the reproductive histories of marriage cohorts in the years 1900‒1940. We perform a micro-level statistical analysis of legitimate births of parity 1+. Results: In this period fertility decline has just begun, and shows a strong decline in the post-WWI marriage cohorts. Although nonagricultural groups lead the downward trend in family size, the role of socioeconomic status means that the path of sharecropper households is atypical. Conclusions: The fertility transition proceeds by means of spacing and stopping, testifying to a new attitude towards birth control, which agricultural and nonagricultural social groups adopted in different ways. Usually, the decline in fertility progresses from nonagricultural to rural classes. In the rural world the path is inverted, going from the lower to the upper groups. Contribution: The paper contributes to the debate on the links between socioeconomic status and fertility transition in Italy. It shows that the link between household economy and control of fertility is specific to SES groups, which can follow atypical paths, compared to the known reference model. The use of microdemographic data provides evidence for the hypothesis that the fertility transition can be shaped by the specific social and economic characteristics of population subgroups

Association of kidney disease measures with risk of renal function worsening in patients with type 1 diabetes

Background: Albuminuria has been classically considered a marker of kidney damage progression in diabetic patients and it is routinely assessed to monitor kidney function. However, the role of a mild GFR reduction on the development of stage 653 CKD has been less explored in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients. Aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic role of kidney disease measures, namely albuminuria and reduced GFR, on the development of stage 653 CKD in a large cohort of patients affected by T1DM. Methods: A total of 4284 patients affected by T1DM followed-up at 76 diabetes centers participating to the Italian Association of Clinical Diabetologists (Associazione Medici Diabetologi, AMD) initiative constitutes the study population. Urinary albumin excretion (ACR) and estimated GFR (eGFR) were retrieved and analyzed. The incidence of stage 653 CKD (eGFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) or eGFR reduction > 30% from baseline was evaluated. Results: The mean estimated GFR was 98 \ub1 17 mL/min/1.73m2 and the proportion of patients with albuminuria was 15.3% (n = 654) at baseline. About 8% (n = 337) of patients developed one of the two renal endpoints during the 4-year follow-up period. Age, albuminuria (micro or macro) and baseline eGFR < 90 ml/min/m2 were independent risk factors for stage 653 CKD and renal function worsening. When compared to patients with eGFR > 90 ml/min/1.73m2 and normoalbuminuria, those with albuminuria at baseline had a 1.69 greater risk of reaching stage 3 CKD, while patients with mild eGFR reduction (i.e. eGFR between 90 and 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) show a 3.81 greater risk that rose to 8.24 for those patients with albuminuria and mild eGFR reduction at baseline. Conclusions: Albuminuria and eGFR reduction represent independent risk factors for incident stage 653 CKD in T1DM patients. The simultaneous occurrence of reduced eGFR and albuminuria have a synergistic effect on renal function worsening

Supporti alternativi per filtri fotocatalitici a base di biossido di titanio nanoparticellare per applicazione industriale

Studio di efficienza fotocatalitica di filtri a base di vetro e polietilene ricoperti con biossido di titanio nanoparticellare. L'obiettivo è quello di determinare le migliori condizioni di produzione di tali sistemi filtranti in ottica di produrre sistemi filtranti a letto fluido per applicazione industriale (abbattimento di inquinanti dai fumi di scarico). La ricopertura è avvenuta per dip coating, seguita da evaporazione del solvente in stufa a 500°C e 80°C rispettivamente

Inclusion Testing of B\ufcchi Automata Based on Well-Quasiorders

We introduce an algorithmic framework to decide whether inclusion holds between languages of infinite words over a finite alphabet. Our approach falls within the class of Ramsey-based methods and relies on a least fixpoint characterization of \u3c9-languages leveraging ultimately periodic infinite words of type uv^\u3c9, with u a finite prefix and v a finite period of an infinite word. We put forward an inclusion checking algorithm between B\ufcchi automata, called BAInc, designed as a complete abstract interpretation using a pair of well-quasiorders on finite words. BAInc is quite simple: it consists of two least fixpoint computations (one for prefixes and the other for periods) manipulating finite sets (of pairs) of states compared by set inclusion, so that language inclusion holds when the sets (of pairs) of states of the fixpoints satisfy some basic conditions. We implemented BAInc in a tool called BAIT that we experimentally evaluated against the state-of-the-art. We gathered, in addition to existing benchmarks, a large number of new case studies stemming from program verification and word combinatorics, thereby significantly expanding both the scope and size of the available benchmark set. Our experimental results show that BAIT advances the state-of-the-art on an overwhelming majority of these benchmarks. Finally, we demonstrate the generality of our algorithmic framework by instantiating it to the inclusion problem of B\ufcchi pushdown automata into B\ufcchi automata

Coprinellus mitrinodulisporum, a new species from chamois dung

Abstract — The genus Coprinellus is re-examined from its establishment, through demotion as a synonym of Coprinus, and up through its current reinstatement. An agaric with a setulose pileus, sphaerocystic veil, and mitriform, nodulose spores has been isolated from chamois dung and, based on morphological data, is regarded as a new species in Coprinellus. The new taxon is compared with morphologically similar Coprinellus species, particularly with those having mitriform spores. Other taxa recently described in Coprinus are transferred to Coprinellus

The use of stable water isotopes from rain gauges network to define the recharge areas of springs: Problems and possible solutions from case studies from the northern Apennines

Gli isotopi stabili dell’ossigeno e dell’idrogeno sono ampiamente utilizzati in bibliografia per la definizione degli areali di ricarica delle acque sotterranee in ambienti montani. Nella quasi totalità dei casi, vengono utilizzate relazioni pregresse sviluppate da altri autori che legano la variazione degli isotopi raccolti presso pluviometri campionatori con la quota, ricavando, con le sole analisi delle acque sotterranee, la quota media di infiltrazione delle acque sorgive campionate. Tale approccio, seppur di facile utilizzo, non tiene in considerazione i meccanismi di ricarica delle acque sotterranee, assumendo le acque campionate ai pluviometri come totalmente equiparabili alle acque sorgive. Dal punto di vista idrogeologico, tale assunzione non tiene in considerazione l’equazione del bilancio idrogeologico, trascurando gli effetti dell’evapotraspirazione e del deflusso superficiale. La presente nota riporta una comparazione preliminare tra isotopi stabili in acque meteoriche (1 pluviometro) e sotterranee (2 sorgenti) nel medio-alto Appennino emiliano. I risultati evidenziano come, nel caso in esame, le relazioni comunemente applicate in bibliografia forniscano valori di quote di alimentazione fuorvianti, in entrambi i casi superiori alle rispettive quote massime dei bacini idrogeologici delle sorgenti. Le stime dell’evapotraspirazione potenziale, e la successiva procedura dei weighting del dato isotopico meteorico, sottolineano come la causa principale delle anomalie nella stima della quota di alimentazione sia da ricercare in questo parametro del bilancio, che non consente alle acque meteoriche estive di pervenire alle falde sotterranee