An orientation-based unification of young jetted AGN: the case of 3C 286

In recent years, the old paradigm according to which only high-mass black holes can launch powerful relativistic jets in active galactic nuclei (AGN) has begun to crumble. The discovery of $\gamma$-rays coming from narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s), usually considered young and growing AGN harboring a central black hole with mass typically lower than 10$^8$ M$_\odot$, indicated that also these low-mass AGN can produce powerful relativistic jets. The search for parent population of $\gamma$-ray emitting NLS1s revealed their connection with compact steep-spectrum sources (CSS). In this proceeding we present a review of the current knowledge of these sources, we present the new important case of 3C 286, classified here for the fist time as NLS1, and we finally provide a tentative orientation based unification of NLS1s and CSS sources.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures. Proceeding of the conference "Quasars at all cosmic epochs", held in Padova, April 2-7, 2017, published on Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science

Extended narrow-line region in Seyfert galaxies

We present our recent results about the extended narrow-line region (ENLR) of two nearby Seyfert 2 galaxies (IC 5063 and NGC 7212) obtained by modelling the observed line profiles and spectra with composite models (photoionization+shocks) in the different regions surrounding the AGN. Then, we compare the Seyfert 2 ENLRs with the very extended one recently discovered in the narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxy Mrk 783. We have found several evidences of interaction between the ISM of the galaxies and their radio jets, such as a) the contribution of shocks in ionizing the high velocity gas, b) the complex kinematics showed by the profile of the emission lines, c) the high fragmentation of matter, etc. The results suggest that the ENLR of IC 5063 have a hollow bi-conical shape, with one edge aligned to the galaxy disk, which may cause some kind of dependence on velocity of the ionization parameter. Regarding the Mrk 783 properties, it is found that the extension of the optical emission is almost twice the size of the radio one and it seems due to the AGN activity, although there is contamination by star formation around 12 arcsec from the nucleus. Diagnostic diagrams excluded the contribution of star formation in IC 5063 and NGC 7212, while the shock contribution was used to explain the spectra emitted by their high velocity gas.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures, proceeding of the conference "Quasars at all cosmic epochs", accepted for publication in Front. Astron. Space Sci. - Milky Way and Galaxie

Environmental footprint of beef production: integrated intensive and extensive systems

The environmental footprint of the food supply chain has emerged as one of the most important issues in public debate. Livestock systems have an important role in the food supply chain, contributing to nearly 40 percent of the global value of agricultural output. The livestock systems characteristics at regional level depend on the regional eco-climatic conditions and their interactions with the socio-economic features of the regional anthropic society. The output derived from the different livestock systems and its consequences on anthropic and natural systems depend on how all these elements interact. Focusing on beef production systems, the extensive grazing ruminant systems rely on fibrous and human-inedible feedstuffs and on low resource intensity and quality, providing various multi-functional valuable goods and services. At the same time, unbalances among productive systems, environment and society could emerge, leading to disruptive effects such as overgrazing, soil degradation, biodiversity losses due to natural ecosystems clearance as well as threats for food security and poverty level. Conversely, the intensive beef systems rely on great amount of energetic and protein feedstuffs, most of them imported through national and international trade, and on improved production efficiency to obtain the greatest amount of food output per one unit of input. The specialization, aggregation and decoupling from local eco-climatic conditions, while affording to cover the increasing demand of animal-derived food, have led to notable alterations in the biogeochemical cycles related to greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and to nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Different indicators and methods were developed in order to cope with the increasing awareness about the livestock systems environmental footprint, and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) has arisen as one the most suitable methodologies to evaluate the positive and negative outputs due to a product throughout its life cycle. The procedure is composed of goal and scope definition (definition of the aims and the structure of the LCA model), life cycle inventory (collection of all the inputs and outputs of the system, inventorying the resources used, the emissions produced and the wastes generated), life cycle impact assessment (classification and characterization of the impacts) and interpretation. An increasing number of studies has been published on the environmental footprint of livestock sector using a LCA procedure in the last decade, mainly concerning GHG emissions. The application of LCA method to livestock systems needs to take into account the peculiarities of each regional livestock system. This is the case of the integrated France-Italy beef production system, a particular system that integrates the suckler cow-calf system located in the Massif Central semi-mountainous area (central France), and based on extensive pasture system, with the intensive fattening system located in north-eastern Italy, where beef calves are imported and reared using total mixed rations based on maize silage and concentrates. The aim of this PhD thesis was the assessment of the environmental footprint of the north-eastern Italy beef production system through a multi-indicator approach based on LCA, considering also the whole supply chain obtained with the integration of the French suckler cow-calf system as well as investigating some sources of variation of the environmental footprint of the beef fattening phase. This PhD thesis is composed by three chapters. The first chapter aimed at evaluating the environmental impact of the north-eastern Italy beef fattening system through a partial LCA method. The study involved 342 fattening batches (i.e., a group of animals homogenous for genetic type, sex, origin, fattening farms and finishing period) reared in 16 fattening farms during 2013. Data on animal performance were recorded for each batch. Diet composition and feed intake were collected for each beef category (combination of genotype and sex) within farms. On- and off-farm feed production data and materials used were recorded for each farm. Impact categories regarded (mean values and standard deviation per kg BW gain are provided between brackets): global warming potential (GWP, 8.4±1.6 kg CO2-eq), acidification potential (AP, 197±32 g SO2-eq), eutrophication potential (EP, 65±12 g PO4-eq), cumulative energy demand (CED, 62±16 MJ), and land occupation (LO, 8.9±1.7 m2/year). The contribution to GWP, AP and EP was greater for the on-farm than off-farm stages, whereas the opposite pattern was found for CED and LO. This contribution gave a preliminary analysis of the north-eastern Italy beef production system, developing a methodological framework that was used in the following chapters for assessing the environmental footprint of the whole beef supply chain (chapter 2) and for evaluating some factors affecting the environmental footprint of the Italian beef fattening system (chapter 3). The second chapter considered the whole beef production supply chain, with a cradle-to-farm-gate LCA approach. The aim of this chapter was to evaluate the environmental footprint of the integrated France-Italy beef system (extensive grassland-based suckler cow-calf farms in France with intensive cereal-based fattening farms in north-eastern Italy) using a multi-indicator approach, which combines environmental impact categories computed with a cradle-to-farm gate LCA, and food-related indicators based on the conversion of gross energy and protein of feedstuffs into raw boneless beef. The study involved 73 Charolais batches kept at 14 Italian farms. Data from 40 farms originating from the Charolais Network database (INRA) were used to characterize the French farm types, which were matched to the fattening batches according to the results of a cluster analysis. The impact categories assessed were as follows (mean ± SD per kg BW): GWP (13.0±0.7 kg CO2-eq, reduced to 9.9±0.7 kg CO2-eq when considering the carbon sequestration due to French permanent grassland), AP (193±13 g SO2-eq), EP (57±4 g PO4-eq), CED (36±5 MJ) and LO (18.7±0.8 m2/year). The on-farm impacts outweighed those of the off-farm stages, except in the case of CED. On average, 41 MJ and 16.7 kg of dietary feed gross energy and protein were required to provide 1 MJ or 1 kg of protein of raw boneless beef, respectively, but nearly 85% and 80%, respectively, were derived from feedstuffs not suitable for human consumption. Emission-related (GWP, AP, EP) and resource utilization categories (CED, LO) were positively correlated. Food-related indicators showed positive correlations with emission-related categories when the overall feedstuffs of the diet were considered but were negatively correlated when only the human-edible portions of the beef diets were considered. The third chapter aimed at investigating the effect of some diet-related factors and of the beef category (genotype x sex) on the environmental impact of the north-eastern Italy beef fattening system computed according to a partial LCA method. The study involved 245 batches reared in 17 fattening farms in 2014. Data on animal performance and farm input were collected for each batch and farm, respectively. Data on feed allowance, ingredients composition of the diets as well as diet sample for the chemical analysis were monthly collected for each batch. Impact categories assessed (mean ± SD per kg BW gain into brackets) were: GWP (8.8±1.6 kg CO2-eq), AP (142±22 g SO2-eq), EP (55±8 g PO4-eq), CED (53±18 MJ) and LO (7.9±1.2 m2/year). Impact values were analysed with a linear mixed model including farm (random effect) and the fixed effect of beef category, season of arrival and classes of initial BW, self-sufficiency rate diet (SELF), crude protein (CPI) and phosphorus (PI) daily intake. Beef category and classes of SELF, CPI and PI significantly affected the impact categories values. Impact mitigation was observed with enhancing SELF and reducing CPI and PI values, with no detrimental effects on farm economic profitability expressed as income over feeds cost. The results of this PhD thesis give interesting insights about the environmental footprint of the France-Italy beef production system. The assessment at the batch level allowed to investigate the factors, such as beef category and diet characteristics, that may influence the environmental footprint of the beef fattening phase, allowing the implementation of mitigation strategies. Moreover, the necessity to use indicators related to different issues not only regarding to the environmental impact, in a multi-indicator approach within LCA, should be considered in order to obtain a more consistent and accurate evaluation of the environmental footprint of livestock systems

Relativistic plasmas in AGN jets - From synchrotron radiation to γ\gamma-ray emission

Relativistic jets of plasma are a key ingredient of many types of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN). Today we know that AGNs are powered by the accretion of inter stellar material into the gravitational field of a Super Massive Black Hole and that this process can release as much power as a whole galaxy, like the Milky Way, from a region that is comparable to the Solar System in size. Depending on the properties of the central energy source, a large fraction of this power can be involved in the acceleration of magnetized plasmas at relativistic speeds, to form large scale jets. The presence of jets affects the spectrum of AGNs through the emission of synchrotron radiation and Inverse Compton scattering of low energy photons, thus leading to a prominent non-thermal spectrum, some times extending from radio frequencies all the way up to $\gamma$-ray energies. Here we review some characteristic processes of radiation emission in AGN jets, which lead to the emission of photons in the radio, optical, X-ray and $\gamma$-ray bands, and we present the results of a spectroscopic campaign of optical counterparts. We discuss our observations and their connection with $\gamma$-ray properties in a scenario that traces the role of relativistic jets in different classes of AGNs, detected both in the local as well as in the remote Universe.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures (3 in color), proceedings of the XXVIII School on Physics of Ionized Gases (SPIG), accepted for publication on the European Journal of Physics

First report on proliferative kidney disease (PKD) in marble trout (Salmo trutta marmoratus, Cuvier 1817)

Proliferative kidney disease is a hyperplastic response of the principal lymphoid tissue of salmonid fish infected by Tetracapsidoides bryosalmonae, a myxozoan parasite. This parasite affects many rainbow trout farms in Europe and North America. The disease has also been reported in other salmonids as well as in pike (Esox lucius) and grayling (Thymallus thymallus). In autumn 2000, an outbreak of PKD induced mortality in a group of marble trout (Salmo trutta marmoratus) juveniles reared in a farm in north-east Italy. The fish were intended to restock public waters. Diseased fish showed a lethargic behaviour, skin darkening, abdominal dilatation, gill anaemia and, after necroscopy, increase in volume and a pale colour of the kidney. All fishes subjected to histological examination showed a marked granulomatous interstitial nephritis, as well as foci of pancreatic and hepatic necrosis. The immunohistochemistry and PAS stain allowed visualisation of the extrasporogonic phase of the parasite Tetracapsuloides bryosalmonae in several tissues of the host. This is the first reported outbreak of PKD in marble trout, and should receive full attention since this species is potentially under risk of extinction

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Debris Survey in Coastal Areas: Long-Term Monitoring Programme to Study Spatial and Temporal Accumulation of the Dynamics of Beached Marine Litter

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are becoming increasingly accessible tools with widespread use as environmental monitoring systems. They can be used for anthropogenic marine debris survey, a recently growing research field. In fact, while the increasing efforts for offshore investigations lead to a considerable collection of data on this type of pollution in the open sea, there is still little knowledge of the materials deposited along the coasts and the mechanism that leads to their accumulation pattern. UAVs can be effective in bridging this gap by increasing the amount of data acquired to study coastal deposits, while also limiting the anthropogenic impact in protected areas. In this study, UAVs have been used to acquire geo-referenced RGB images in a selected zone of a protected marine area (the Migliarino, Massacciuccoli, and San Rossore park near Pisa, Italy), during a long-term (ten months) monitoring programme. A post processing system based on visual interpretation of the images allows the localization and identification of the anthropogenic marine debris within the scanned area, and the estimation of their spatial and temporal distribution in different zones of the beach. These results provide an opportunity to investigate the dynamics of accumulation over time, suggesting that our approach might be appropriate for monitoring and collecting such data in isolated, and especially in protected, areas with significant benefits for different types of stakeholders

A new approach to produce calcium-phosphate coatings on titanium

In the study, hydroxyapatite-gelatin composite powders were synthesized from simulated body fluid (SBF) with gelatin content ranging from 1 to 3 wt. %. It was established that all the samples were single-phase and represented hydroxyapatite. The surface and morphological characteristics of the produced hydroxyapatite-gelatin (HAG) based coatings were studied. Uniform deposition of the composite on the titanium substrate surface (VT1-0) was found to occur on etched titanium samples. It is shown that exposure of titanium substrates with hydroxyapatite-gelatin (HAG) based coating to powerful ion beam can stimulate further growth of crystals and regeneration of the surface

Peaked sources and narrow-line Seyfert 1s: A love story

The first similarities between peaked sources (PS) and narrow-line Seyfert 1 (NLS1) galaxies were noticed already 20 years ago. Nowadays, it is known that several sources can share both classifications, and that part of the parent population of gamma-ray emitting NLS1s could be hiding among PS. In this brief review, we describe how and why this orientation-based unification was developed. We also show how the recent discovery of absorbed radio jets in NLS1s basically invisible at frequencies below 10 GHz, could impact our knowledge of PS and, in particular, render the widely used radio-loudness parameter obsolete

Jet-Induced Feedback in the [O III] Lines of Early Evolution Stage Active Galactic Nuclei

It is well known that active galactic nuclei (AGN) show various forms of interaction with their host galaxy, in a number of phenomena generally called AGN feedback. In particular, the relativistic plasma jets launched by a fraction of AGN can strongly affect their environment. We present here a study of the [O III] lambda lambda 4959,5007 lines in a diverse sample of early evolution stage AGN-specifically narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies. Radio imaging observations of all of the sources enable a division to jetted and non-jetted sources, and exploiting this we show that the ionized gas properties are significantly influenced by the presence of the jets, as we often find the [O III] lines (blue-)shifted with respect to their restframe wavelength. We also show how the radio morphology and the radio spectral index do not seem to play a role in the origin of the [O III] shifts, thus suggesting that the source inclination is not relevant to the lines displacement. We do not find a strong relation between the [O III] line properties and the bolometric luminosity, suggesting that within our sample radiatively driven outflows do not seem to have a significant contribution to the [O III] line kinematics. We finally suggest that [O III] shifts may be a good proxy to identify the presence of relativistic jets. Additional studies, especially with integral-field spectroscopy, will provide a deeper insight into the relation between jets and their environment in early evolution stage AGN.</p

Sustainability of intensive beef production system in North-East Italy: relationships between phosphorus supply and productive performance

The beef sector of the Veneto Region is based on young bulls imported mainly from France and reared intensively using total mixed rations based on maize silage and concentrates. While nitrogen excretion of the sector is regulated by Nitrate Directive, the excretion of phosphorus (P) is less studied, despite of its potentially great impact on environment. This study aims at analysing the relationships between productive and economic performances and P content of the diet in 14 farms of the region. For a whole productive year feed consumption, ingredients and chemical composition of diets were monthly collected. Average Daily Gain (ADG), Feed conversion ratio (FCR), daily gross profit (DGP), and P balance were calculated. ADG, FCR, and DGP were analysed with a mixed model using arrival season, arrival weight, class of dietary content of P, protein and starch as fixed effects and farm as random effect. Average daily gain was 1.39±0.08 kg/d, FCR was 0.14±0.01 kg/kg, and DGP 2.5±0.40 €/d. The P dietary content was on average high (0.38±0.04, % DM), which resulted in P intakes and excretions of 13.49±1.94 and 9.85±1.92 kg/head/place, respectively. None of the productive and economic traits was affected by phosphorus content of the diet. As a consequence, the phosphorus supplementation can be reduced without the risk of weakening productive and economic performances.The beef sector of the Veneto Region is based on young bulls imported mainly from France and reared intensively using total mixed rations based on maize silage and concentrates. While nitrogen excretion of the sector is regulated by Nitrate Directive, the excretion of phosphorus (P) is less studied, despite of its potentially great impact on environment. This study aims at analysing the relationships between productive and economic performances and P content of the diet in 14 farms of the region. For a whole productive year feed consumption, ingredients and chemical composition of diets were monthly collected. Average Daily Gain (ADG), Feed conversion ratio (FCR), daily gross profit (DGP), and P balance were calculated. ADG, FCR, and DGP were analysed with a mixed model using arrival season, arrival weight, class of dietary content of P, protein and starch as fixed effects and farm as random effect. Average daily gain was 1.39±0.08 kg/d, FCR was 0.14±0.01 kg/kg, and DGP 2.5±0.40 €/d. The P dietary content was on average high (0.38±0.04, % DM), which resulted in P intakes and excretions of 13.49±1.94 and 9.85±1.92 kg/head/place, respectively. None of the productive and economic traits was affected by phosphorus content of the diet. As a consequence, the phosphorus supplementation can be reduced without the risk of weakening productive and economic performances