TDR-based water content estimation on globigerina limestone through permittivity measurements

Most monuments and historical buildings in the Maltese Islands are made of the local Globigerina Limestone (GL). This type of stone, however, is very delicate and prone to degradation caused by the environmental conditions of the islands. Hence, for the preservation of the Cultural Heritage monuments, it is necessary to promptly assess the health status of these structures and, in particular, their water content (which represents one of the major causes of degradation). Starting from these considerations, in this work, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based method for estimating water content of GL is presented. More specifically, the proposed method relies on estimating the water content value of the GL structure from TDR-based dielectric permittivity measurements. To verify the suitability of this system, experimental tests were carried out on a GL sample. The results anticipate the strong potential of the proposed method for practical applications in the Cultural Heritage diagnostics

TDR-based water content estimation on globigerina limestone through permittivity measurements

none11siMost monuments and historical buildings in the Maltese Islands are made of the local Globigerina Limestone (GL). This type of stone, however, is very delicate and prone to degradation caused by the environmental conditions of the islands. Hence, for the preservation of the Cultural Heritage monuments, it is necessary to promptly assess the health status of these structures and, in particular, their water content (which represents one of the major causes of degradation). Starting from these considerations, in this work, a time domain reflectometry (TDR)-based method for estimating water content of GL is presented. More specifically, the proposed method relies on estimating the water content value of the GL structure from TDR-based dielectric permittivity measurements. To verify the suitability of this system, experimental tests were carried out on a GL sample. The results anticipate the strong potential of the proposed method for practical applications in the Cultural Heritage diagnostics.mixedCataldo A.; De Benedetto E.; Cannazza G.; D'Amico S.; Farrugia L.; Misfud G.; Dimech E.; Sammut C.V.; Persico R.; Leucci G.; De Giorgi L.Cataldo, A.; De Benedetto, E.; Cannazza, G.; D'Amico, S.; Farrugia, L.; Misfud, G.; Dimech, E.; Sammut, C. V.; Persico, R.; Leucci, G.; De Giorgi, L

An integrated YAC map of the human X chromosome.

The human X chromosome is associated with a large number of disease phenotypes, principally because of its unique mode of inheritance that tends to reveal all recessive disorders in males. With the longer term goal of identifying and characterizing most of these genes, we have adopted a chromosome-wide strategy to establish a YAC contig map. We have performed > 3250 inter Alu-PCR product hybridizations to identify overlaps between YAC clones. Positional information associated with many of these YAC clones has been derived from our Reference Library Database and a variety of other public sources. We have constructed a YAC contig map of the X chromosome covering 125 Mb of DNA in 25 contigs and containing 906 YAC clones. These contigs have been verified extensively by FISH and by gel and hybridization fingerprinting techniques. This independently derived map exceeds the coverage of recently reported X chromosome maps built as part of whole-genome YAC maps

Ecosystem Services from Small Forest Patches in Agricultural Landscapes

© 2016, Springer International Publishing AG. In Europe, like in many temperate lowlands worldwide, forest has a long history of fragmentation and land use change. In many places, forest landscapes consist of patches of different quality, age, size and isolation, embedded in a more or less intensively managed agricultural matrix. As potential biodiversity islets, small forest patches (SFP) may deliver several crucial ecosystem services to human society, but they receive little attention compared to large, relatively intact forest patches. Beyond their role as a biodiversity reservoir, SFP provide important in situ services such as timber and wild food (game, edible plants and mushrooms) production. At the landscape scale, SFP may enhance the crop production via physical (obstacle against wind and floods) and biological (sources of pollinators and natural enemies) regulation, but may, on the other hand, also be involved in the spread of infectious diseases. Depending on their geographic location, SFP can also greatly influence the water cycle and contribute to supply high-quality water to agriculture and people. Globally, SFP are important carbon sinks and are involved in nutrient cycles, thus play a role in climate change mitigation. Cultural services are more related to landscape values than to SFP per se, but the latter may contribute to the construction of community identity. We conclude that SFP, as local biodiversity hotspots in degraded landscapes, have the potential to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and may even be crucial for the ecological intensification of agro-ecosystems. There is thus an urgent need to increase our knowledge about the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem services delivered by these SFP in agricultural landscapes.status: publishe

Global Distribution, Composition and Abundance of Marine Litter

Marine debris is commonly observed everywhere in the oceans. Litter enters the seas from both land-based sources, from ships and other installations at sea, from point and diffuse sources, and can travel long distances before being stranded. Plastics typically constitute the most important part of marine litter sometimes accounting for up to 100 % of floating litter. On beaches, most studies have demonstrated densities in the 1 item m−2 range except for very high concentrations because of local conditions, after typhoons or flooding events. Floating marine debris ranges from 0 to beyond 600 items km−2. On the sea bed, the abundance of plastic debris is very dependent on location, with densities ranging from 0 to >7700 items km−2, mainly in coastal areas. Recent studies have demonstrated that pollution of microplastics, particles <5 mm, has spread at the surface of oceans, in the water column and in sediments, even in the deep sea. Concentrations at the water surface ranged from thousands to hundred thousands of particles km−2. Fluxes vary widely with factors such as proximity of urban activities, shore and coastal uses, wind and ocean currents. These enable the presence of accumulation areas in oceanic convergence zones and on the seafloor, notably in coastal canyons. Temporal trends are not clear with evidences for increases, decreases or without changes, depending on locations and environmental conditions. In terms of distribution and quantities, proper global estimations based on standardized approaches are still needed before considering efficient management and reduction measures