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

Relations between green infrastructures and surface water management. A study concerning two towns in Sardinia, Italy

In all the world, cities have facing challenges connected with extreme weather phenomena. The complexity, which characterizes urban areas, requires an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to define policies and strategies to manage this kind of problems. Urban green infrastructure, and in general, green infrastructure, may represent a concrete and sustainable approach to face problems concerning surface water management, entailing economic and environmental benefits. Sustainable urban drainage concerns techniques and technologies, considered more sustainable than conventional solutions, used to drain superficial water deriving from meteorological events. Despite the numerous advantages of sustainable urban drainage systems and urban green infrastructure, their use is still limited within urban areas and local plans pay little attention to these unconventional approaches. From this context, the study aims at analyzing the implementation of sustainable urban drainage systems and urban green infrastructure within municipal masterplans in order to understand if and to what extent these approaches are included within spatial planning at the local level. In particular, the study analyses the municipal masterplans of two Sardinian municipalities that have recently approved their plan

Use of ICTs and Mass Media in the Planning Processes: the Two Sides of the Same Coin

In recent years, Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and mass media are increasing used by governments within the decision-making processes, changing the modalities to involve citizens. Moreover, these types of tools entail different benefits, such as greater transparency and the promotion of participation. In particular, the research work focuses on planning processes at the regional scale, analysing the case study of the Sardinian Regional Landscape Plan (RLP). Indeed, during the elaboration and implementation of the RLP, Web sites, blogs and mass media have been used to encourage new forms of institutional communication and participation. On the other hand, political issues have negatively influenced the outcomes of planning processes. For example, newspapers and television have represented the political arenas where officials of the local and regional governments clashed over the modalities of implementation of the RLP. As a consequence, the specific purpose of the regional government policy has been to legitimate its supremacy over the planning choices at the local level, utilizing tools that should grant a greater transparency and involvement on behalf of the local communities within planning processes

Nanostructured Zinc Oxide as drug carrier for pharmaceutical applications

In this PhD thesis nanostructured ZnO (NsZnO) was studied to develop innovative drug carriers for future dermatological applications. In particular the novelty of the research was the use of a green organic-solvent free route both for the production of the NsZnO and for the loading of of the Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API), by means of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) technology. The first chapter deals with a general overview of the ZnO properties and applications in the biomedical field, offering a detailed description of the current state-of-art related to the use of ZnO nanostructures as drug delivery systems. Particular attention is focused on the existing studies of NsZnO in skin applications. The second chapter presents the scCO2 technology as an innovative and greener approach to perform the drug loading of a delivery system. The fundamental properties of the scCO2 are described in order to understand the mechanism of scCO2-mediated drug impregnation, since it is the drug loading method selected in this PhD research project. The third chapter illustrates the development of a green organic-solvent-free route to prepare ZnO-based drug carriers. Two NsZnO materials with different morphologies were synthesized using wet organic-solvent-free processes and they were characterized to elucidate their morphological and physico-chemical properties. In this investigation, Clotrimazole (CTZ) and Ibuprofen (IBU) were selected as the drug models. For the first time, scCO2-mediated drug impregnation was used in the loading of NsZnO materials. The fourth chapter describes the study of a third ZnO nanostructure, which consists in mesoporous ZnO particles. A simple synthesis was carried out, based on the on the hydrolysis of a zinc salt in basic alcoholic solutions. A material with a significant high surface area and a morphology suitable for the biomedical applications was obtained. Also in this case the scCO2 technology was studied as a greener alternative technology to carry out the drug loading of the mesoporous NsZnO. CTZ was selected as the drug model. The fifth chapter is focused on the study of the three developed NsZnOs from a biological point of view, in order to highlight their intrinsic biological properties. Particularly, their antimicrobial activity against different microbial strains were investigated, and the results were correlated with their physico-chemical parameters. Also the in vitro Zn2+ release profiles from the NsZnO matrices were evaluated, simulating a release to the skin. The sixth chapter presents the research work carried out at the Lancaster University (UK). The main aim was the study of innovative materials for wound healing. Particularly, this section describes the development of biocompatible in-situ-forming composite hydrogels, based on natural polysaccharides, where one of the previously synthetized NsZnO was used as inorganic nanofiller. The crosslinking mechanism, structure, morphology and swelling behavior of the in situ forming composite hydrogels were studied. Moreover, in vitro release of Zn2+from the formulations was simulated on synthetic skin and the cytotoxicity of the different component was carried out on a HaCat cell line. The seventh chapter describes the main results of a parallel research project carried out within my PhD studies. In particular, the proof of concept of an innovative dermatological formulation containing ordered mesoporous silica (OMS) was successfully demonstrated. The possibility to obtain a drug reservoir system, combining API-loaded OMS with a saturated solution of the same API was investigated obtaining outstanding results from both a physical-chemical and biological point of view. The innovative formulation resulted in a sustained release of the drug lasting two times with respect to the commercial gel, which opens the possibility of reducing the daily number of administrations during a real treatment

Towards a regional urban agenda: approaches and tools

During the 2014–20 programming period concerning European structural and investment (ESI) funds, the urban dimension has assumed considerable importance within European Union Cohesion Policy. This shift aims at guaranteeing more coherence between European challenges and urban planning, and at using European funding in a more efficient way. The definition and implementation of an urban agenda has become a prerequisite to meet the objectives of sustainable economic development based on an integrated approach to urban policy. From this conceptual perspective, the collaboration and coordination efforts between different levels of government represents a key element. Therefore, the implementation of models of multilevel governance could promote sustainable and socially inclusive growth of European cities, and greater involvement and coordination of urban areas within decision-making processes. This paper addresses the integrated approach to sustainable urban development through a critical analysis of the implementation of integrated territorial investments (ITIs) in the case study of the Sardinian region of Italy to investigate whether ITI could serve as a tool for pursuing/implementing the urban agenda

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

Participatory approaches in support of the decision-making processes. The ambivalence of participation

The dissertation concerns the analysis of participatory practices in support of the decision-making processes. In particular, the research work is based on an important consideration, according to which, traditional participatory processes do not work in practical terms. Indeed, the evolution of the concept of participation reveals that although the implementation of the participatory processes arose from the necessity of strongly criticizing the contemporary society of the 1960’s, nowadays they have been used to reinforce and legitimate the existing power relations. In this conceptual framework, participation is currently analysed and interpreted either as a democratic right or as an instrument to achieve specific goals. As a result, the dichotomy, between theory and practice, acquires an increasing importance within the international debate. Moreover, the dissertation intends to interpret the intrinsic ambivalence within the concept of participation through the analysis of a case study represented by the Sardinian Regional Landscape Plan (RLP). Sardinian regional government elaborated its RLP in 2006. However, different problems, such as the lack of implementation of the RLP at the local level, entailed the necessity for a revision. In particular, the Sardinian case study represents an emblematic case due to the implementation of two very different participatory processes. From this perspective, these approaches are studied in order to understand the difficulties to translate theoretical concepts about participation into practice. In addition, the research work is based on a qualitative strategy and on a case study design, where a triangulation of methods, which are traditionally related to either qualitative or quantitative research strategy, is used. In particular, the data were collected through semi-structured interviews and self-completion questionnaires that involved different categories of participants such as academicians, officials of the regional, provincial and local governments, technicians of building enterprises, member of environmentalist bodies and practitioners. Moreover, the data analysis highlights some important considerations. First of all, the political decisions influenced negatively the outcomes of the participatory processes. Indeed, during the elaboration phase, the specific purpose of the regional government was to legitimate its ruling role on the planning decisions at the local level, implying a lack of real involvement of participants. In the revision phase, despite the apparently good intentions, the regional government, which belongs to an opposite political alignment of the previous one, intended to represent itself as a forward-looking administration in order to increase consensus on behalf of citizens, local and provincial administrations, practitioners and the economic and productive sectors. Secondly, the lack of a solid awareness of the importance of participation makes the implementation of effective inclusive moments impossible without a methodological reference framework. From this conceptual perspective, the research work proposes a procedural protocol, whose aim is to define a methodological framework concerning the implementation of participatory practices in support of the planning processes at the regional scale. The procedural protocol focuses on four main issues: the interdependency of participatory and planning processes, the definition of specific responsibilities, the circularity of the processes, and their flexibility. First of all, the participatory processes should be parallel to the planning processes, becoming a necessary element of the procedures of elaboration and approval of plans. On the other hand, despite the complementary nature of the relation between participatory and planning processes, they should not lose their decisional autonomy and independence. Secondly, with respect to the impacts of the political decisions on participatory and planning processes, the authorities that implement participatory processes should be external bodies, composed by a multidisciplinary group of experts in political and social science, and in participatory practices. Thirdly, the circularity of the processes is based on considerations, according to which the relations between participatory and planning processes are not linear. In this way, it could be possible to take corrective measures in the most important phases. Finally, the fourth issue is related to specific economic, social and political contexts in which the participatory processes are implemented. Indeed, the research work tries to maintain a certain degree of flexibility in order to make it possible that suitable adjustments of the processes in relation to the reference context do occur.In conclusion, “learning from failing” represents an important lesson of the research work. Indeed, despite the undeniable failures that characterise the current participatory practices, participation remains a significant aspect that could give adecisive contribution to the effectiveness of planning decisions

Cell wall composition and biofilm formation of azoles-susceptible and -resistant Candida glabrata strains

In the present study, three strains of Candida glabrata have been investigated to shed light on the mechanisms involved in azole resistance during adherence and biofilm formation. In particular, a clinical isolate, susceptible to azole-based drugs, DSY562 and two different resistant mutagenic strains deriving from DSY562, SFY114 and SFY115, have been analysed with different approaches for their cell wall composition and properties. A proteomic analysis revealed that the expression of six cell wall-related proteins and biofilm formation varied between the strains. The SFY114 and SFY115 strains resulted to be less hydrophobic than the susceptible parental counterpart DSY562, on the other hand they showed a higher amount in total cell wall polysaccharides fraction in the total cell wall. Accordingly to the results obtained from the hydrophobicity and adherence assays, in the resistant strain SFY115 the biofilm formation decreased compared to the parental strain DSY562. Finally, the total glucose amount in resistant SFY115 was about halved in comparison to other strains. Taken together all these data suggest that azole drugs may affect the cell wall composition of C. glabrata, in relation to the different pathogenic behaviours

Cell wall composition and biofilm formation of azoles-susceptible and -resistant Candida glabrata strains

In the present study, three strains of Candida glabrata have been investigated to shed light on the mechanisms involved in azole resistance during adherence and biofilm formation. In particular, a clinical isolate, susceptible to azole-based drugs, DSY562 and two different resistant mutagenic strains deriving from DSY562, SFY114 and SFY115, have been analysed with different approaches for their cell wall composition and properties. A proteomic analysis revealed that the expression of six cell wall-related proteins and biofilm formation varied between the strains. The SFY114 and SFY115 strains resulted to be less hydrophobic than the susceptible parental counterpart DSY562, on the other hand they showed a higher amount in total cell wall polysaccharides fraction in the total cell wall. Accordingly to the results obtained from the hydrophobicity and adherence assays, in the resistant strain SFY115 the biofilm formation decreased compared to the parental strain DSY562. Finally, the total glucose amount in resistant SFY115 was about halved in comparison to other strains. Taken together all these data suggest that azole drugs may affect the cell wall composition of C. glabrata, in relation to the different pathogenic behaviours