New insights in the relation between climate and slope failures at high-elevation sites

Climate change is now unequivocal; however, the type and extent of terrestrial impacts are still widely debated. Among these, the effects on slope stability are receiving a growing attention in recent years, both as terrestrial indicators of climate change and implications for hazard assessment. High-elevation areas are particularly suitable for these studies, because of the presence of the cryosphere, which is particularly sensitive to climate. In this paper, we analyze 358 slope failures which occurred in the Italian Alps in the period 2000–2016, at an elevation above 1500 m a.s.l. We use a statistical-based method to detect climate anomalies associated with the occurrence of slope failures, with the aim to catch an eventual climate signal in the preparation and/or triggering of the considered case studies. We first analyze the probability values assumed by 25 climate variables on the occasion of a slope-failure occurrence. We then perform a dimensionality reduction procedure and come out with a set of four most significant and representative climate variables, in particular heavy precipitation and short-term high temperature. Our study highlights that slope failures occur in association with one or more climate anomalies in almost 92% of our case studies. One or more temperature anomalies are detected in association with most case studies, in combination or not with precipitation (47% and 38%, respectively). Summer events prevail, and an increasing role of positive temperature anomalies from spring to winter, and with elevation and failure size, emerges. While not providing a final evidence of the role of climate warming on slope instability increase at high elevation in recent years, the results of our study strengthen this hypothesis, calling for more extensive and in-depth studies on the subject

Self-control interventions for children under age 10 for improving self-control and delinquency and problem behaviors

Self-control improvement programs are intended to serve many purposes, most notably improving self-control. Yet, interventions such as these often aim to reduce delinquency and problem behaviors. However, there is currently no summary statement available regarding whether or not these programs are effective in improving self-control and reducing delinquency and problem behaviors. The main objective of this review is to assess the available research evidence on the effect of self-control improvement programs on self-control and delinquency and problem behaviors. In addition to investigating the overall effect of early selfcontrol improvement programs, this review will examine, to the extent possible, the context in which these programs may be most successful. The studies included in this systematic review indicate that self-control improvement programs are an effective intervention for improving self-control and reducing delinquency and problem behaviors, and that the effect of these programs appears to be rather robust across various weighting procedures, and across context, outcome source, and based on both published and unpublished data

Confronto dell\u2019efficacia di due vaccini commerciali anti PCV2 in condizioni normali di allevamento - Comparative efficacy of two commercial PCV2 vaccines in conventionally pigs

L\u2019efficacia di due vaccini anti Porcine Circovirus 2 (PCV2) \ue8 stata valutata, in suini convenzionali, in termini di risposta anticorpale, quantit\ue0 di genoma virale presente nel sangue, sintomi clinici e performances di accrescimento dallo svezzamento fino a 220 giorni di vita. Allo scopo \ue8 stato realizzato uno studio di campo randomizzato cieco in una azienda a ciclo chiuso di 420 scrofe, utilizzando 1050 suinetti provenienti da 5 bande consecutive di produzione, distribuiti in 3 gruppi. All\u2019inizio della sperimentazione (25\ub12 giorni di vita), 349 animali (gruppo A) sono stati vaccinati intramuscolo (i.m.) con una dose di 0,5 ml di Circovac\uae, 351 animali (gruppo B) hanno ricevuto una dose i.m. di 1 ml di CircoFLEX\uae. I 350 soggetti del gruppo C sono stati utilizzati come animali di controllo non vaccinati. Tutti i suini sono stati pesati a 25, 105 e 220 giorni di vita ed \ue8 stato calcolato l\u2019incremento ponderale medio giornaliero (IPMG). Le valutazioni sierologiche e virologiche (quantit\ue0 di genoma virale presente nel sangue, determinata mediante real time PCR), sono state condotte esaminando i campioni di sangue prelevati mensilmente (dallo svezzamento fino a 6 mesi di vita), da un gruppo di 36 soggetti selezionati in modo casuale e appartenenti alla terza banda. Gli animali vaccinati hanno presentato un IPMG significativamente pi\uf9 elevato rispetto ai soggetti del gruppo di controllo nei periodi 25-105, 105-220 e 25-220 giorni di vita, minori percentuali di morti, scarti e soggetti sottopeso e minori quantit\ue0 di genoma virale nel sangue. Tra i due vaccini, non \ue8 stata osservata nessuna differenza statisticamente significativa relativamente ai parametri considerati