The Cladistic Technique for Territorial Studies

The cladistic is an technique born in the field of biology. Starting from the physics characteristics of some elements, the cladistic method try to find the hierarchical links between them in the bases of their similarity and of the research of “evidences” of relationship. The goal of this paper is to verify the potentialities of this method in the studies of the territory, in order to find correlation among different spatial areas. Considering social, economic, environmental indicators that characterise the areas of a given territory, we analyse the links between different areas, organising these links according to a hierarchical tree. The result is then compared with ones obtained using more traditional methods as multicriterial analysis, statistics and clustering.

Study of tributary inflows in Lake Iseo with a rotating physical model

The influence of Coriolis force on the currents of large lakes is well acknowledged; very few contributions, however, investigate this aspect in medium-size lakes where its relevance could be questionable. In order to study the area of influence of the two major tributary rivers in Lake Iseo, a rotating vertically distorted physical model of the northern part of this lake was prepared and used, respecting both Froude and Rossby similarity. The model has a horizontal length scale factor of 8000 and a vertical scale factor of 500 and was used both in homogeneous and in thermally stratified conditions. We explored the pattern of water circulation in front of the entrance mouth for dif- ferent hydrologic scenarios at the beginning of spring and in summer. We neglected the influence of winds. The primary purposes of the model were twofold: i) to increase our level of knowledge of the hydrodynamics of Lake Iseo by verifying the occurrence of dynamical effects related to the Earth’s rotation on the plume of the two tributaries that enter the northern part of the lake and ii) to identify the areas of the lake that can be directly influenced by the tributaries’ waters, in order to provide guidance on water quality monitoring in zones of relevant environmental and touristic value. The results of the physical model confirm the relevant role played by the Coriolis force in the northern part of the lake. Under ordinary flow conditions, the model shows a systematic deflection of the inflowing waters towards the western shore of the lake. The inflow triggers a clockwise gyre within the Lovere bay, to the West of the inflow, and a slow counter-clockwise gyre, to the East of the inflow, that returns water towards the river mouth along the eastern shore. For discharges with higher return period, when only the contribution by Oglio River is relevant, the effect of the Earth’s rotation weakens in the entrance zone and the plume has a more rectilinear pattern, whilst in the far field the current driven by the inflows keeps moving along the western shore. On the basis of these results one could expect that the north-western part of the lake between Castro and Lovere, although not aligned with the tributaries’ axes, is more sensitive to accumulation effects related to river-borne pollution. The results obtained with the physical model are critically compared with data obtained from different sources: the trajectory of a lagrangian drogue; a map of reflectivity data from the lake floor; a map of water turbidity at the intrusion depth. The findings are also confirmed by the results of a 3D numerical model of the lake

Evidence from field measurements and satellite imaging of impact of Earth rotation on Lake Iseo chemistry

During an initial field survey in 2012, we observed an unexpected asymmetry of dissolved oxygen distribution between the western and eastern side in northern Lake Iseo. Motivated by this apparent anomaly, we conducted a detailed field investigation, and we used a physical model of the northern part of the lake to understand the in- fluences that might affect the distribution of material in the northern section of the lake. These investigations sug- gested that the Earth's rotation has significant influence on the inflow of the lake's two main tributaries. In order to further crosscheck the validity of these results, we conducted a careful analysis at a synoptic scale using images acquired during thermally unstratified periods by Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 satellites. We retrieved and post- processed a large set of images, providing conclusive evidence of the role exerted by the Earth's rotation on pol- lutant transport in Lake Iseo and of the greater environmental vulnerability of the north-west shore of this lake, where important settlements are located. Our study confirms the necessity for three-dimensional hydrodynamic models including Coriolis effect in order to effectively predict local impacts of inflows on nearshore water quality of medium-sized elongated lakes of similar scale to Lake Iseo

Mycobacterium microti at the environment and wildlife interface

10openInternationalItalian coauthor/editorAn unexpected high presence of Mycobacterium microti in wild boar in Northern Italy (Garda Lake) has been reported since 2003, but the factors contributing to the maintenance of this pathogen are still unclear. In this study, we investigated the presence of M. microti in wild rodents and in water and soil samples collected at wild boar aggregation areas, such as watering holes, with the aim of clarifying their role in M. microti transmission. In total, 8 out of 120 captured animals tested positive for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) as assessed by real-time PCR, and six samples were confirmed to be M. microti. A strain with a genetic profile similar to those previously isolated in wild boars in the same area was isolated from one sample. Of the 20 water and 19 mud samples, 3 and 1, respectively, tested positive for the presence of MTBC, and spacer oligotype SB0118 (vole type) was detected in one sample. Our study suggests that wild rodents, in particular Apodemus sylvaticus, Microtus sp. and Apodemus flavicollis, play roles in the maintenance of M. microti infections in wild boar through ingestion or by contact with either infected excreta or a contaminated environment, such as at animal aggregation sitesopenTagliapietra, V.; Boniotti, M.B.; Mangeli, A.; Karaman, I.; Alborali, G.; Chiari, M.; D’Incau, M.; Zanoni, M.; Rizzoli, A.; Pacciarini, M.L.Tagliapietra, V.; Boniotti, M.B.; Mangeli, A.; Karaman, I.; Alborali, G.; Chiari, M.; D’Incau, M.; Zanoni, M.; Rizzoli, A.; Pacciarini, M.L

Architectural Mapping: Proiectura - Lovere, la città illuminata

Una riflessione e un racconto fotografico sul progetto Proiectura-Lovere la città illuminata, un architectural mapping realizzato nel maggio 2023 nella cittadina di Lovere, in provincia di Bergamo, dal Liceo Artistico Decio Celeri, con il supporto di esperti esterni, per coinvolgere gli studenti nella realizzazione di un progetto artistico concreto e professionale

Relationship between the prevalence of Dibothriocephalus latus(Cestoda: Diphyllobothriidea) and the load of Escherichia coli: New findings in a neglected fish-borne parasitic zoonosis

The sub-Alpine lakes of Switzerland, Italy and France have long been reported as an endemic area of diphyllobothriosis, a parasitic zoonosis aused by Dibothriocephalus latus. With this study, we explored the hypothesis for a relationship between the prevalence of D. latus in Perca fluviatilis and the Escherichia coli load in lake water. To do this, we identified eleven sampling sites in three areas (north, centre and south) of Lake Iseo (north Italy) to determine E. coli load and the prevalence of D. latus in P. fluviatilis. Prevalence and 95% confidence interval (CI) of D. latus infestation ranged from 0% (95% CI: 0.71–0.0) in Sarnico (southern area) to 20% (95% CI: 33.0–11.2) in Pisogne (northern area). There were significant differences in prevalence be-tween the sites (χ2= 31.12; p- value= .0006) and in E. coli load (Kruskal–Wallis test; p- value= .0005). There was decreasing gradient of E. coli load and prevalence of D. latus infestation from north to south. A significant positive correlation (r= .881; p- value= .003) was found between E. coli load and prevalence of D. latus. Also, linear regression showed a significant relationship between E. coli load and prevalence of infestation (R2= .775). Our findings offer an explanation for the link between E. coliload in water and D. latus prevalence. The potential factors in this link are the ef-ficiency of the local wastewater treatment plant, the bathymetric profile of the lake and the life cycle of D. latus, which is mainly affected by light and water temperature.KEYWORDSItaly, Lake Iseo, Perca fluviatilis, prevalence of infestation, wastewater treatment plant, the bathymetric profile of the lake and the life cycle of D. latus, which is mainly affected by light and water temperature