Simposio per Immagini. Sesto Simposio Internazionale Il monitoraggio costiero mediterraneo: problematiche e tecniche di misura

Il volume è un appendice del VI Simposio "Il Monitoraggio Costiero Mediterraneo: problematiche e tecniche di misura" ed è curato da Gianni Fasano e Alessandro Materassi Vengono illustrate le attività scientifico-culturali svolte in concomitate dell'Evento Nel Volume sono presenti contributi di Paola Baldari, Antonio Raschi, Alessandra Potenti, Laura Pellegrino, Matteo De Vincenzi, Francesca Giampaolo

Increasing Heatwave Hazards in the Southeastern European Union Capitals

Heatwaves (HWs) are one of the “natural” hazards with the greatest impact worldwide in terms of mortality and economic losses, and their effects may be exacerbated in large urban areas. For these reasons, more detailed analyses of urban HW trends represent a priority that cannot be neglected. In this study, HW trends were investigated during the warmest period of the year (May–September) by using a slightly improved version of the EuroHEAT HW definition applied on long meteorological time-series (36-year period, 1980–2015) collected by weather stations located in the capitals of the 28 European Union member countries. Comparisons between two 18-year sub-periods (1980–1997 vs. 1998–2015) were carried out and a city-specific HW hazard index (HWHI), accounting for the main HW characteristics, was proposed. Most of the capitals revealed significant positive trends of the majority of HW hazard characteristics and substantial HWHI increases were observed during the sub-period 1998–2015, especially in the central-eastern and southeastern cities. Conversely, minor HWHI increases were observed in most of the northern capitals and opposite situations were even observed in several northern and especially southwestern cities. The results of this study represent a support for planning urban HW-related mitigation and adaptation strategies with the priority given to the southeastern cities

Can indicators for sustainable tourism improve tourism planning in the coastal destinations? Empirical evidence from Catalonia, Istrian Region and Tuscany Region

Due to the continuous increase of the tourism industry, tourism destinations need to be managed under a sustainable framework, with the main aim of minimizing the adverse effects caused by tourism flows. In recent years, several attempts have been made to measure those effects and value the level of sustainability of every destination. A clear example of this is the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS). In the paper, the results are presented of a project which aimed to test indicators of sustainable tourism in coastal destinations of Catalonia, Istrian Region, and Tuscany Region. The results of 33 collected indicators are available on the online platform of the project INTERREG MED MITOMED+. During the first year, in every category of indicators (economic, social-cultural and environmental) only some indicators were collected, which was expected because different regions apply different methodologies. The collected data is the starting point that shows destinations how the indicator can be obtained and what its purpose is. Furthermore, collected data can help local and regional tourism stakeholders to prevent factors of risk, to take decisions and to improve the implementation of policies for sustainable maritime and coastal tourism development in the Mediterranean area

Thermal optimality of net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide and underlying mechanisms

It is well established that individual organisms can acclimate and adapt to temperature to optimize their functioning. However, thermal optimization of ecosystems, as an assemblage of organisms, has not been examined at broad spatial and temporal scales. Here, we compiled data from 169 globally distributed sites of eddy covariance and quantified the temperature response functions of net ecosystem exchange (NEE), an ecosystem-level property, to determine whether NEE shows thermal optimality and to explore the underlying mechanisms. We found that the temperature response of NEE followed a peak curve, with the optimum temperature (corresponding to the maximum magnitude of NEE) being positively correlated with annual mean temperature over years and across sites. Shifts of the optimum temperature of NEE were mostly a result of temperature acclimation of gross primary productivity (upward shift of optimum temperature) rather than changes in the temperature sensitivity of ecosystem respiration. Ecosystem-level thermal optimality is a newly revealed ecosystem property, presumably reflecting associated evolutionary adaptation of organisms within ecosystems, and has the potential to significantly regulate ecosystemclimate change feedbacks. The thermal optimality of NEE has implications for understanding fundamental properties of ecosystems in changing environments and benchmarking global models.This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by New Phytologist Trust and can be found at: http://www.newphytologist.org/Keywords: Climate change, Temperature acclimation, Optimum temperature, Thermal optimality, Temperature adaptatio

Key Learning Outcomes for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Education in Europe: A Modified Delphi Study.

Harmonizing clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) education in Europe is necessary to ensure that the prescribing competency of future doctors is of a uniform high standard. As there are currently no uniform requirements, our aim was to achieve consensus on key learning outcomes for undergraduate CPT education in Europe. We used a modified Delphi method consisting of three questionnaire rounds and a panel meeting. A total of 129 experts from 27 European countries were asked to rate 307 learning outcomes. In all, 92 experts (71%) completed all three questionnaire rounds, and 33 experts (26%) attended the meeting. 232 learning outcomes from the original list, 15 newly suggested and 5 rephrased outcomes were included. These 252 learning outcomes should be included in undergraduate CPT curricula to ensure that European graduates are able to prescribe safely and effectively. We provide a blueprint of a European core curriculum describing when and how the learning outcomes might be acquired

The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics' resources: focus on curated databases

The SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (www.isb-sib.ch) provides world-class bioinformatics databases, software tools, services and training to the international life science community in academia and industry. These solutions allow life scientists to turn the exponentially growing amount of data into knowledge. Here, we provide an overview of SIB's resources and competence areas, with a strong focus on curated databases and SIB's most popular and widely used resources. In particular, SIB's Bioinformatics resource portal ExPASy features over 150 resources, including UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot, ENZYME, PROSITE, neXtProt, STRING, UniCarbKB, SugarBindDB, SwissRegulon, EPD, arrayMap, Bgee, SWISS-MODEL Repository, OMA, OrthoDB and other databases, which are briefly described in this article

Measuring Destination Image of an Italian Island: An Analysis of Online Content Generated by Local Operators and Tourists

The understanding of destination image is a key point for tourism enterprises, local authorities, and policy makers. This study explores the case of Capraia, a small island located in Tuscany, to analyze how tourists (tourism demand) and local operators (tourism supply) create and communicate the island’s online image. This research quantitatively examines online communication on the two sides of the tourism market to monitor the online destination image of the island of Capraia. To build on previous research in this area, this study adopts a web content mining approach to assess the characteristics of content published online. The main dimensions of destination image (as developed in the literature) are used as a basis to create a dictionary for automated content analysis. A total of 24 tourism promotion websites and 9,180 tourist Instagram posts were analyzed. Findings reveal discrepancies between the image proposed by local operators and that perceived by tourists. Local operators mostly communicate general information to discover the destination, while tourists prioritize communication based on emotional appeal and personal experience on the island. This research aims to provide support for local operators and policy makers in decisions relating to communication and in defining the island image

Rilevanze scientifico-ambientali presso le Terme San Giovanni di Rapolano Terme (SI): la Montagnola (“fissure-ridge” di travertino) e la mofeta del Bossoleto

Presso le Terme San Giovanni a Rapolano Terme (SI) si trovano due elementi geologici di notevole interesse scientifico: la Montagnola (dorsale fessurata di travertino) e la mofeta del Bossoleto. Entrambi sono legati all’attività geotermica che caratterizza l’intera Toscana meridionale e che dà luogo alla circolazione di notevoli volumi di fluidi idrotermali entro livelli crostali medio-superiori. La Montagnola è un rilievo allungato di circa 250 m, formato da travertino e caratterizzato dalla presenza di una fessura che lo attraversa longitudinalmente e dalla quale fuoriesce acqua termale (circa 40°C) molto salina con elevata componente di bicarbonato di calcio. La mofeta del Bossoleto, distante circa cento metri dalla Montagnola, è una dolina profonda circa 6 metri e ampia circa 80 metri, la cui peculiarità è la concentrazione atmosferica di anidride carbonica superiore alla media ambientale, talvolta limitante per le forme di vita. Grazie a questa particolarità, la mofeta del Bossoleto è diventata negli anni un laboratorio scientifico per investigare gli effetti a breve termine e gli adattamenti di specie vegetali all’elevata concentrazione di anidride carbonica, ipotizzando quelli che, a grande scala, potrebbero essere gli effetti dell’aumento di anidride carbonica in atmosfera. Quindi, l’area delle Terme San Giovanni è interessante non solo per il turismo termale, ma anche per il valore scientifico e paesistico di questi elementi. Queste peculiarità permettono anche di svolgere attività didattiche con gli studenti delle scuole locali, con l’obiettivo di aumentare la consapevolezza del valore del loro territorio e la conoscenza di problematiche ambientali attuali