Participatory GIS in Mapping Ecosystem Services: Two Case Studies from High-Biodiversity Regions in Italy and Peru

Assessing ecosystem services (ES) and mapping their values are of paramount importance. Here we present two case studies where the participatory mapping of social values of landscape ecosystem services is used in territories with high levels of cultural and biological diversity (Adamello Brenta Natural Park in Italy and the Alto Mayo basin in the Western Amazon, Peru). A mixed-method approach combining social geography fieldwork (participatory mapping) and desk work (GIS analyses) is adopted to improve ES mapping by including multiple actors and to increase awareness. Mapping ecosystem services is not just a technical task; it also highlights social implications of the cartographic process, a key issue in human geography. By taking into account the controversial and multiple roles of maps, and by involving actors in attributing values and mapping their spatial relations to landscape and ES, it is possible to enrich technical knowledge with local knowledge

Stochastic Ray Propagation in Stratified Random Lattices – Comparative Assessment of Two Mathematical Approaches

In this report, ray propagation in stratified semi-infinite percolation lattices consisting of a succession of uniform density layers is considered. The final version of this article is available at the url of the journal PIER: http://www.jpier.org/PIER

Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Cytochrome c un-folding in AOT Reverse Micelles: the first steps

This paper explores the reduced form of horse cytochrome c confined in reverse micelles (RM) of so-dium bis-(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) in isooctane by molecular dynamics simulation. RMs of two sizes were constructed at a water content of Wo = [H2O]/[AOT] = 5.5 and 9.1. Our results show that the protein secondary structure and the heme conformation both depend on micellar hydration. At low hydration, the protein structure and the heme moiety remain stable, whereas at high water content the protein becomes unstable and starts to unfold. At Wo = 9.1, according to the X-ray structure, conforma-tional changes are mainly localized on protein loops and around the heme moiety, where we observe a partial opening of the heme crevice. These findings suggest that within our time window (10 ns), the structural changes observed at the heme level are the first steps of the protein denaturation process, pre-viously described experimentally in micellar solutions. In addition, a specific binding of AOT molecules to a few lysine residues of the protein was found only in the small-sized RM.Comment: 27 pages, unpublished result

A new specific neuronal modulatory effect of nicotine: the functional cross talk between nicotinic and glutamate receptors

We here have addressed the topic of the cross-talk between receptors. We provide evidence supporting the co-localization and the functional interaction between nicotinic acetylcholine receptors and some glutamatergic receptors. The recruitment of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors dynamically and negatively modulates the function of both N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) and ?-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors throughout their selective internalization. This dynamic control by cholinergic nicotinic system of NMDA and ?-AMPA receptors is operative even at very low concentrations of nicotine. Nicotinic and glutamatergic receptors have been both implicated in important neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and anxiety. Thus, a more extensive and detailed knowledge of this new modulatory role of nicotine may eventually enable us to develop specific therapeutic interventions for these pathologies

Sentinel-2 Data Analysis and Comparison with UAV Multispectral Images for Precision Viticulture

Precision viticulture (PV) requires the use of technologies that can detect the spatial and temporal variability of vineyards and, at the same time, allow useful information to be obtained at sustainable costs. In order to develop a cheap and easy-to-handle operational monitoring scheme for PV, the aim of this work was to evaluate the possibility of using Sentinel-2 multispectral images for long-term vineyard monitoring through the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). Vigour maps of two vineyards located in northeastern Italy were computed from satellite imagery and compared with those derived from UAV multispectral images; their correspondence was evaluated from qualitative and statistical points of view. To achieve this, the UAV images were roughly resampled to 10 m pixel size in order to match the spatial resolution of the satellite imagery. Preliminary results show the potential use of open source Sentinel-2 platforms for monitoring vineyards, highlighting links with the information given in the agronomic bulletins and identifying critical areas for crop production. Despite the large differences in spatial resolution, the results of the comparison between the UAV and Sentinel-2 data were promising. However, for long-term vineyard monitoring at territory scale, further studies using multispectral sensor calibration and groundtruth data are required

Comparison between automatic and conventional milking systems for milk coagulation properties and fatty acid composition in commercial dairy herds

AbstractThe aim of this study was to investigate the effect of milking dairy cows using conventional milking parlour (CMP) and automatic milking system (AMS) on milk coagulation properties and fatty acid (FA) composition. Milk coagulation traits were rennet coagulation time, curd-firming time and curd firmness. Data consisted of 10,476 individual milk samples collected from 918 Holstein–Friesian cows in 8 herds: four herds milked cows using a CMP and four using an AMS. A linear mixed model was used to investigate sources of variation for milk yield, traditional quality traits, coagulation properties and FA profile. On average, cows from AMS produced 1 kg/d more milk than cows from CMP. Rennet coagulation time was slightly longer (+1.2 min) and free FA content was greater (+0.16 mmol/100 g milk fat) in milk from cows milked in AMS than CMP. Overall, the milking system did not affect the FA concentration of milk. Results of the present study suggest that AMS can be adopted without detrimental effects on mil..

GIS-BIM Interoperability for Regeneration of Transurban Areas

open3noIn order to manage analysis and project processes at a territorial, urban and architectural scale, linking information to metric data is an increasingly important topic. At a geographic and cartographic stage, the function of storing, managing and viewing data and information is performed by GIS (Geographic Information Systems), where vector features as points, lines, polygons are gathered in layers connected to an attribute table. In a similar way, when scale factor increases, for buildings and other engineering works there is a growing necessity to preserve data or attributes together with the features where they belong. For this purpose, a major role is played by BIM (Building Information Modeling), a modelling process in which the parts of a building are hierarchically organized and every feature is connected to an information table containing all data useful for the ongoing working process or for managing the life cycle of the modelled building or infrastructure. While the two systems are similar in concept, at the moment they suffer lack of mutual communication, especially in conveying informations from a platform to another. Studying relationships and possible connections between different data storage environments like GIS and BIM is one of the research topics of DATA – Developing Abandoned Transurban Areas, a research project now in progress at University of Padova, involving Departments of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Industrial Engineering. The main goal of the project is to design pilot regeneration scenarios for wasted or underused places, focusing on a part of the western peri-urban area of Padova marked by the overlapping of partially abandoned industrial or commercial buildings, transport infrastructures like a ring road and a railway, residential fabric and green or agricultural land. Among DATA key features there is a multi-scale approach: in a framework where urban peripheries are considered a relation system between a city and the surrounding territory, the project aims to combine the methods of urban and territorial analysis with a design concept in which industrial landmarks or empty spaces become the core of possible urban transformations. Therefore, starting from data mining and management related to the areas of interest, procedures for GIS to BIM data transfer are surveyed and implemented; then, the buildings, facilities and building complex involved in scenarios design will be modelled in detail, and relevant building-scale information will be added. At the moment, within the project, a pipeline to convert a GIS map of the buildings in our area of interest into a BIM 3D model provided with all the information of the GIS layer has been developed. Then, when the BIM model is modified, its updated attributes can be taken back to the GIS level. The aim of this paper is to describe the workflow for GIS-BIM interoperability in DATA project, results achieved at the moment and future goals and applications.openDavide Barbato, Guglielmo Pristeri, Massimo De MarchiBarbato, Davide; Pristeri, Guglielmo; DE MARCHI, Massim

A Survey on Feedlot Performance of Purebred and Crossbred European Young Bulls and Heifers Managed Under Intensive Conditions in Veneto, Northeast Italy

This study, based on a nearly 10-year collection of performance data of young bulls and beef heifers, aimed to benchmark production traits of specialized fattening herds of northern Italy and to compare the performance of stock calves belonging to several European genetic types (GT). Data originated from 2806 batches (a group of stock calves homogeneous for GT, origin, finishing herd, fattening period, and diets), and concerned 188,891 animals of 10 GT herded in 44 farms of the Veneto region. For each batch, average body weight (BW) at arrival and at sale, duration of the fattening period, losses due to injury or death, purchase and sell price were collected, and average daily gain (ADG) and net sale gain (NSG) per head, per day of fattening, and per kg of BW gain were computed. Charolais and Limousine young bulls accounted for nearly 50% and 20%, respectively, of all animals, and over 90% of calves originated from France. Average BW at arrival and at slaughter approximated 370 and 650 kg, respectively, and ADG approached 1.30 kg/d, but variation due to GT was large (P<0.01). Charolais young bulls were the heaviest at slaughter and showed the greatest ADG, whereas Irish crosses produced the highest NSG per head and per day of fattening. Year affected all traits (P<0.01), but his magnitude was limited for BW at purchase or sale and for ADG, and slightly larger for NSG, even if this last trait did not evidence any long period congruent trend

Organic Livestock Production- A Bibliometric Review

Due to the increasing interest in organic farming, an overview of this research area is provided through a bibliometric analysis conducted between April and May 2019. A total of 320 documents were published up until 2018 on organic livestock farming, with an annual growth rate of 9.33% and a clear increase since 2005; 268 documents have been published in 111 journals. Germany is the country with the largest number of published papers (56 documents). Authors\u2019 top keywords (excluding keywords used for running the search) included: animal welfare (29 times), animal health (22 times), cattle (15 times), grazing (10 times), and sheep (10 times). This could indicate that more research has been done on cattle because of the importance of this species in Germany. Moreover, the prevalence of the terms \u2018animal welfare\u2019 and \u2018animal health\u2019 may indicate that the research on organic livestock production has been focused on these two areas. The bibliometric analysis indicates that: i) countries focused the organic livestock production research on their main production, and ii) more research in species other than cattle and sheep is needed