Atlas and Informative System of the Lagoon of Venice: updated tools for a higher management efficiency in Natura 2000 sites

La laguna di Venezia è un ecosistema complesso per comprendere il quale è necessario integrare dati ed informazioni provenienti da discipline diverse raccolti da differenti Enti ed Istituti di ricerca. L’Osservatorio Naturalistico della Laguna, del Comune di Venezia, nasce fondamentalmente per raccogliere queste informazioni ed organizzarle affinché possano essere fruibili sia dai vari Servizi e Direzioni dell’Amministrazione Comunale, sia dalle istituzioni scientifiche e dai cittadini. Per questo motivo è stato prodotto l’Atlante della Laguna, una raccolta di 103 mappe tematiche, ciascuna delle quali è corredata da una scheda esplicativa, suddivise in 5 sezioni: Geosfera, Biosfera, Antroposfera, Ambiti di Tutela e Analisi Integrate. L’Atlante rappresenta solo un primo passo verso la diffusione e la validazione dei dati ambientali. Attualmente si sta realizzando un Sistema Informativo della Laguna (SIL) che metterà a disposizione di vari utenti le informazioni, le elaborazioni ed i materiali raccolti dall’Osservatorio durante le sue attività (in parte già sintetizzati nell’Atlante). Il passo successivo sarà la raccolta e la diffusione delle informazioni e dei dati che altri soggetti proprietari vorranno inserire nel SIL, attraverso appositi protocolli di scambio. I vantaggi di un Sistema Informativo rispetto ad un volume cartaceo sono molteplici e noti, e vanno dall’aggiornabilità del dato alla possibilità di elaborarlo secondo necessità contingenti. L’utilizzo di questi strumenti per la gestione delle aree umide è esemplificato attraverso un caso studio: la Valutazione di Incidenza dell’area utilizzata per il tiro al piattello localizzata a Campalto (Venezia), attività dismessa ormai da diversi anni.The lagoon of Venice is a complex ecosystem that can be understood only by the integration of data and information with a multidisciplinary approach. The ‘Osservatorio Naturalistico della Laguna’ of Venice Municipality has been created with the aim of gathering and organizing all kinds of information, so that it can be used by administrators, scientific institutions and citizens. For this reason, the Lagoon Atlas was produced. The Atlas is composed by 103 tematic maps, each accompanied by an explicatory schedule, subdivided into 5 sections: Geosphere, Biosphere, Anthroposphere, Protection and Integrated Analysis. The Atlas represents a first step towards the distribution and validation of environmental data. An Informative System of the Lagoon (SIL) is currently under construction, and this will allow to obtain all kind of information, elaboration and materials gathered by the Osservatorio during its activities (already partially summarized in the Atlas). The next step will be to gather and distribute information and data that other subjects will include in the SIL, through specific protocols of exchange. The advantages of using an Informative System rather than paper materials are obvious, spanning from the possibility to update data to the possibility of elaborating them according to the needs. The use of these tools for wetland management is exemplified by a case study: the assessment of projects in the area of Campalto (Venice), that in the past was used for shooting

Severe bloodstream infection due to KPC-producer e coli in a renal transplant recipient treated with the double-carbapenem regimen and analysis of in vitro synergy testing a case report

Transplant recipients are at high risk of infections caused by multidrug resistant microorganisms. Due to the limited thera- peutic options, innovative antimicrobial combinations against carbape- nem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae causing severe infections are necessary. A 61-year-old woman with a history of congenital solitary kidney underwent renal transplantation. The postoperative course was compli- cated by nosocomial pneumonia due to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and pan-sensitive Escherichia coli, successfully treated with antimicrobial therapy. On postoperative day 22, diagnosis of surgical site infection and nosocomial pneumonia with concomitant bacteremia due to a Kle- bisella pneumoniae carbapenemase-producer E coli was made. The patient was treated with the double-carbapenem regimen (high dose of merope- nem plus ertapenem) and a potent synergistic and bactericidal activity of this un-conventional therapeutic strategy was observed in vitro. Despite a microbiological response with prompt negativity of blood cultures, the patient faced a worse outcome because of severe hemorrhagic shock. The double-carbapenem regimen might be considered as a rescue therapy in those subjects, including transplant recipients, in whom previous antimicrobial combinations failed or when colistin use might be discouraged. Performing in vitro synergy testing should be strongly encouraged in cases of infections caused by pan-drug resistant strains, especially in high-risk patients

Revolução de Stan Lee: Os super-heróis da Marvel como uma antecipação dos anti-heróis da Idade das Trevas

The 1980s: The Superhero genre experiments the most significant transformation since the creation of Superman in 1939. A new age of superheroes begins, in which the funny characters for children become darker, violent, brutal, more and more realistic, disenchanted and adult. In Supergods Grant Morrison will call it Dark Age, when the antihero takes the superhero’s place. The Dark Age is considered the biggest revolution in superheroes comics – and yet it is possible to see many warning signs during the Silver Age: a man – The Man – had already started to revolutionize the superheroes world: Stan Lee. Stan created dozens of characters: his superheroes are more complex and human than ever before. They are anticipating the Dark Age, twenty years before it. Thanks to some of the most iconic creations of The Man, this article will show the characteristic of these characters who anticipate the Dark Age’s revolution.A década de 1980: O gênero Superhero experimenta a transformação mais significativa desde a criação do Superman em 1939. Começa uma nova era de super-heróis, na qual os personagens engraçados ficam mais escuros, violentos, brutais, mais e mais realistas, desencantados e adultos. Em Supergods, Grant Morrison vai chamar de Dark Age, quando o anti-herói toma o lugar do super-herói. A Idade das Trevas é considerada a maior revolução nos quadrinhos dos super-heróis - e ainda é possível ver muitos sinais de alerta durante a Era de Prata: um homem - O Homem - já havia começado a revolucionar o mundo dos super-heróis: Stan Lee. Stan criou dezenas de personagens: seus super-heróis são mais complexos e humanos do que nunca. Eles estão antecipando a Idade das Trevas, vinte anos antes. Graças a algumas das criações mais icônicas do The Man, este artigo mostrará a característica desses personagens que antecipam a revolução da Idade das Trevas

Adverbs of illocutionary modification and sociolinguistic variation

Synopsis: This study investigates the properties of a set of Italian adverbs (among others: pure ‘also’, solo ‘only’, un po’ ‘a bit’) that, in specific contexts of use, modify the speech acts in which they appear. On the one hand, these elements specify the way in which a speech act should be interpreted with reference to the specific interactional context, modifying its illocutionary force. On the other hand, they index presupposed/inferred meanings active in the common ground of the interaction, integrating the speech act in the common ground. These functions closely resemble those of the elements that, especially in the German linguistic tradition, are called modal particles. Drawing on original data from Italian – both from the standard language and regional varieties – the goal of the study is to describe the synchronic features of these elements and to explain the emergence of the modal uses. For this purpose, it jointly employs theoretical notions of pragmatics (speech act theory, inferences in interaction), models of language change (reanalysis and conventionalization) and the descriptive tools of sociolinguistic approaches. Through the presentation of four case studies, integrating corpus and questionnaire data, the present work gives a thorough analysis of the modal functions and the contexts of use of the adverbs under investigation: it explores their role at the semantics/pragmatics interface, it discusses their place in a layered model of grammar and it examines their distribution across different language varieties

Antiheroes in the Rubble: Exploring the possibility of heroism in dystopias from Watchmen to The Last of Us

In contemporary popular culture, we see a growing number of both antiheroic characters and dystopias in which society as we know it has ceased to exist. Antiheroes are not necessarily placed in dystopian narratives, but the combination of antihero-dystopias is significant. The dystopia forces us to adopt a new moral compass, one which does not allow a superficial dichotomy of good versus evil. Camus’ philosophical ideas, particularly those articulated in The Rebel, are vital to understanding the controversial morality of the dystopic narrative. If society collapses and there is nothing left to save, what role does the hero have? Is it possible to be a hero in a condemned world? The answers to these questions will be addressed in relation to three media fictions: V for Vendetta, Watchmen, and The Last of Us. This article explores the possibility that the only possible heroism inside a dystopian narrative is antiheroic

Modal particles in Italian

This study investigates the properties of a set of Italian adverbs (among others: pure ‘also’, solo ‘only’, un po’ ‘a bit’) that, in specific contexts of use, modify the speech acts in which they appear. On the one hand, these elements specify the way in which a speech act should be interpreted with reference to the specific interactional context, modifying its illocutionary force. On the other hand, they index presupposed/inferred meanings active in the common ground of the interaction, integrating the speech act in the common ground. These functions closely resemble those of the elements that, especially in the German linguistic tradition, are called modal particles. Drawing on original data from Italian – both from the standard language and regional varieties – the goal of the study is to describe the synchronic features of these elements and to explain the emergence of the modal uses. For this purpose, it jointly employs theoretical notions of pragmatics (speech act theory, inferences in interaction), models of language change (reanalysis and conventionalization) and the descriptive tools of sociolinguistic approaches. Through the presentation of four case studies, integrating corpus and questionnaire data, the present work gives a thorough analysis of the modal functions and the contexts of use of the adverbs under investigation: it explores their role at the semantics/pragmatics interface, it discusses their place in a layered model of grammar and it examines their distribution across different language varieties

An Operando Investigation of (Ni-Fe-Co-Ce)O_x System as Highly Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Evolution Reaction

The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is a critical component of industrial processes such as electrowinning of metals and the chlor-alkali process. It also plays a central role in the developing renewable energy field of solar-fuels generation by providing both the protons and electrons needed to generate fuels such as H_2 or reduced hydrocarbons from CO_2. To improve these processes, it is necessary to expand the fundamental understanding of catalytically active species at low overpotential, which will further the development of novel electrocatalysts with high activity and durability. In this context, performing experimental investigations of the electrocatalysts under realistic working regimes, i.e. under operando conditions, is of crucial importance. Here, we study a highly active quinary transition metal oxide-based OER electrocatalyst by means of operando ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X-ray absorption spectroscopy performed at the solid/liquid interface. We observe that the catalyst undergoes a clear chemical-structural evolution as a function of the applied potential with Ni, Fe and Co oxy-hydroxides comprising the active catalytic species. While CeO_2 is redox inactive under catalytic conditions, its influence on the redox processes of the transition metals boosts the catalytic activity at low overpotentials, introducing an important design principle for the optimization of electrocatalysts and tailoring of novel materials