Forty-four years of land use changes in a Sardinian cork oak agro-silvopastoral system: a qualitative analysis

The island of Sardinia is the biggest producer of natural cork in Italy. In this study, cork oak cover change is investigated in a typical agro-silvopastoral system where the main activities are cereal fodder and wheat cultivation, sheep rearing and cork exploitation. The research method is based on the comparison of two land use maps produced by photo-interpretation of digitised aerial photographs taken in 1954 and 1998, combined with interviews with local farmers, field surveys, and data collected from literature, administrative documentation and decadal censuses (at council level). The results show that the cork oak woodland surface decreased (-29%). It was substituted by other forest, ploughed land, and mixed grassland and shrubland. Apart from the transformation of the cork oak woodland to other forest, other changes have happened probably because of an increase in agricultural and pastoral activities as described by the documental material available for the same area

Infectious diseases and autoimmunity

Introduction: Autoimmunity occurs when the immune system recognizes and attacks host tissue. In addition to genetic factors, environmental triggers (in particular viruses, bacteria and other infectious pathogens) are thought to play a major role in the development of autoimmune diseases. Methodology: We searched PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus without time limits for relevant articles. Results: In this review, we (i) describe the ways in which an infectious agent can initiate or exacerbate autoimmunity; (ii) discuss the evidence linking certain infectious agents to autoimmune diseases in humans; and (iii) describe the animal models used to study the link between infection and autoimmunity. Conclusions: Besides genetic predisposition to autoimmunity, viral and bacterial infections are known to be involved in the initiation and promotion of autoimmune diseases. These studies suggest that pathogens can trigger autoimmunity through molecular mimicry and their adjuvant effects during initiation of disease, and can promote autoimmune responses through bystander activation or epitope spreading via inflammation and/or superantigens.</br

Technology adoption and specialized labor

Empirical evidence identifies shortages of specialized labor as one of the main obstacles to technology adoption. In this paper, we explain this phenomenon by developing a model in which firms require specialized labor to produce with a new (more efficient) technology. We assume that the cost of specializing labor increases with the efficiency gains that can be attained through the new technology. This reveals two opposing effects on the endogenous share of specialized labor. On the one hand, there is a wage effect by which efficiency gains widen the wage gap between specialized and unspecialized workers, raising the share of specialized labor. On the other hand, there is a learning effect by which efficiency gains increase specialization costs, reducing the share of specialized labor. We show the learning effect will dominate when products are sufficiently differentiated

SARS-CoV2 vaccination adverse events trend in Italy. A retrospective interpretation of the last year (december 2020-eptember 2021)

At the end of 2020, a vaccination campaign against COVID-19 was launched. In 2021, legal obligations for health workers, as well as specific regulations for all workers, were introduced. The global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was followed by epochal changes in life, school, and work habits in Italy. Therefore, the pharmacovigilance work currently being conducted in Italy by the AIFA concerning the recording and analysing of adverse reactions related to the use of vaccines has proved to be very important. The latest report, including a period of 10 months from December 2020 to September 2021, has allowed us to combine the results received so far, and to compare the safety of all vaccines currently available in Italy. The results of this analysis are highly encouraging and reveal the statistical reliability of the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines currently used in Italy. The dissemination of these findings could increase the public's awareness of vaccines and their ability to make free and informed choices concerning vaccination. The potential increase in the Italian population's adherence to the vaccination campaign could ultimately be a decisive factor in achieving herd immunity and the final resolution of the pandemic

Fatalidades em incêndios florestais de 1945 a 2015 na Sardenha (Itália)

The worst outcome of wildland fires is the loss of human lives, a recurrent phenomenon over the last few decades in Sardinia, Europe and worldwide. This work analyzes all recorded fatalities in wildland fires in Sardinia from 1945 to 2015 and trends in terms of annual number of fatalities. This time period was split due to legal and socioeconomic changes periods (1945-1975; 1976-2000; 2001-2015). We classified accident types during wildland fires to study the most frequent causes of fatalities and how they were related 1) to involved human groups (professional firefighters, auxiliary firefighters, and civilians, 2) to fire size and 3) to extreme weather conditions. We observed that the annual number of victims was higher in the 1981-1999 period than in other periods with 2.6 fatalities per year. Entrapment is the most frequent cause of death within the fire professional firefighters (75.6 %). The rate of fatalities seemed to be higher in the 1981-1999 period for “civilians” and lower for “professional firefighters”. We detected that the annual number of “civilian” fatalities is higher in the 1981-1999 period with 1.6 fatalities per year. The calculated rate for “army forces & volunteer firefighters” group was in the middle ground. Entrapment is the most frequent cause of death with a percentage of 75.6 %. Fire size is a key factor in the fatality occurrence because over 80 % of deaths in wildland fires (without considering aerial accidents) happened in fires larger than 100 ha. Days with extreme weather conditions (high temperature or strong winds) were also instrumental because at least 47% of entrapments occurred in this kind of days.O pior resultado dos incêndios florestais é a perda de vidas humanas, um fenômeno recorrente ao longo das últimas décadas na Sardenha, Europa e em todo o mundo. Este trabalho analisa os registros de fatalidades em incêndios florestais na Sardenha, de 1945 até 2015 e tendências em termos de número anual de mortes. Este período de tempo foi dividido devido a alterações legais e sócioeconômicas (1945-1975; 1976-2000; 2001-2015). Nos classificados os tipos de acidente durante os incêndios florestais para estudar as causas mais frequentes de mortes e como elas se relacionados com 1) os grupos humanos (bombeiros profissionais, bombeiros auxiliares e civis), 2) ao tamanho do fogo e 3) condições meteorológicas extremas. Observamos que o número anual de vítimas foi maior no período de 1981-1999 do que em outros períodos, com 2,6 mortes por ano. Encurralamento pelo fogo é a causa mais frequente de morte de “bombeiros profissionais” (75,6%). A taxa de mortes parecia ser mais elevada no período 1981-1999 para “civis” e menor para “bombeiros profissionais”. Detectamos que o número anual de mortes de “civis” foi maior no período de 1981-1999, com 1,6 mortes por ano. A taxa calculada para o grupo “forças do exército e os bombeiros voluntários” foi no meio termo. Tamanho do fogo é um fator fundamental para a ocorrência de fatalidade, porque mais de 80% das mortes em incêndios florestais (sem considerar os acidentes aéreos) aconteceram em incêndios maiores que 100 ha. Dias com condições meteorológicas extremas (alta temperatura ou ventos fortes) também foram fundamentais, porque pelo menos 47% dos encurralamentos pelo fogo ocorreram nestes tipos de dias

A Classical molecular dynamics study of recombination reactions in a microporous solid

Classical molecular dynamics calculations have been applied to the study of the recombination reaction of photodissociated radical species. Within a simplified reaction scheme it has been possible to get qualitative information about the influence of the environment. A comparison has been made between reactions in a liquid solvent and in a complex structured environment, such as a microporous silicate. Marked differences in the recombination yield and in the energy relaxation mechanism have been observed

Lettere 1936-1963

Author of Architettura del medioevo in Sardegna which won him the Premio Nazionale Olivetti in 1956, Raffaello Delogu was an art historian and Commissioner for Antiquities and Monuments in Sardinia, Abruzzo and Sicily. His correspondence with one of the most eminent Italian writers of the second half of the twentieth century, as transcribed and lavishly annotated here by Monica Graceffa, reveals him not only as a committed intellectual devoted to the study of ancient and modern art, but also as a caustic and playful friend. His dialogue with Giuseppe Dessí commenced in their youth, when Dessí was an amateur painter on the way to maturity, who instead rapidly developed into a mature writer and attentive connoisseur of all forms of art. In addition to their studies and mutual friends (including Claudio Varese and Maria Lai), they also shared an interest in painting and in what Dessí was experiencing (his moves, his political passion) and what he was writing (fiction, drama, essays); important in this regard are the letters touching on the collaboration of both on the Sardinian issue of Pietro Calamandrei's «Il Ponte»

Holistic Nursing of Forensic Patients: A Focus on Spiritual Care

Prisons are a unique context where nurses are required to have specific skills to ensure that prisoners receive the same type of holistic care as anyone else out of prison, including spiritual care. This discussion paper focuses on understanding how nurses deliver spiritual care in Italian prisons where there are often limited resources and where organizational priorities hinder the provision of holistic nursing. This paper draws from a previous qualitative research study that we had conducted. In this study, we observed that prison nurses reported that they experienced many difficulties related to the provision of holistic care to prisoners. This was particularly true for spiritual care in vulnerable forensic patients, such as older individuals, and physically and mentally frail prisoners. Prison officers did not allow nurses to just "listen and talk" to their patients in prison, because they considered it a waste of time. The conflict between prison organizational constraints and nursing goals, along with limited resources placed barriers to the development of therapeutic relationships between nurses and prisoners, whose holistic and spiritual care needs remained totally unattended. Therefore, prison organizational needs prevailed over prisoners' needs for spiritual care, which, while fundamental, are nevertheless often underestimated and left unattended. Educational interventions are needed to reaffirm nurses' role as providers of spiritual care

Molecular-dynamics calculations of thermodynamic properties of metastable alloys

In order to improve our current understanding of the microscopic structure of metastable alloys of immiscible elements such as Ag-Cu and Co-Cu, the Helmholtz free energy of several microstructures based on an fcc unit cell has been calculated and compared with that of a reference state. The microstructures considered for the free energy calculations at fixed volume are (1) a structure formed by alternating layers of fixed thickness of metal 1 and metal 2 separated by coherent interfaces; (2) an atomically disordered solid solution; (3) a structure comprising a random distribution of elemental cubic grains separated by coherent interfaces. Numerical results show that the Helmholtz free energy of structure (3) decreases with increasing grain size and that its value calculated for a sufficiently large grain size approaches the free energy of structure (1). Further molecular-dynamics simulations for the Ag-Cu system have allowed the calculation of the enthalpy at the equilibrium volume of several microstructures including some of those listed above. A comparison of the calculated values of the enthalpy with the heat release observed experimentally allows the advancement of an hypothesis concerning the reaction path and the structure of the equiatomic Ag-Cu alloy obtained by ball milling

Anaesthetics modulate tumour necrosis factor α: effects of L-carnitine supplementation in surgical patients. Preliminary results.

Both anaesthetics and surgical trauma could strongly affect the production of tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα). During in vitro experiments the authors found that anaesthetics modulate the production of TNFα by peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Notably, Pentothal strongly increased the production of the cytokine as compared to both lipopolysacchride treated and control mononuclear cells, whereas in supernatants from Leptofen driven mononuclear cells TNFα was strongly reduced. On the other hand, Pavulon did not significantly affect the cytokine production. In the in vivo study, in an attempt to ameliorate the metabolic response to surgical trauma, L-carnitine was administered to 20 surgical patients, then the circulating TNFα was measured. The results indicate that the levels of circulating TNFα were strongly increased following surgery and that L-carnitine administration resulted in a strong reduction of TNFα. Thus, the data suggest that L-carnitine could be helpful in protecting surgical patients against dysmetabolism dependent on dysregulated production of TNFα