Factors affecting differences in the diet of pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum during the breeding period in the Aosta Valley (western Italian Alps).

openIn questa tesi ho studiato la dieta della civetta nana euroasiatica Glaucidium passerinum durante il suo periodo riproduttivo. L'area di studio si trova nella Valle d'Aosta, nelle Alpi occidentali italiane. Sono stati raccolti campioni di prede e dati sul successo riproduttivo e sulle caratteristiche dei nidi in 11 siti di nidificazione. L'analisi mirava a riconoscere i fattori che creano le differenze nella dieta tra i diversi siti di nidificazione conosciuti. Inoltre, è stato testato se le differenze nella dieta, ad es. la proporzione di piccoli mammiferi o la ricchezza di specie nella dieta e nell'habitat circostante, hanno un effetto sul successo riproduttivo. Infine, la dieta di questa popolazione alpina è stata confrontata con altre popolazioni studiate nell'Europa settentrionale e centrale.In this thesis, I studied the diet of the Eurasian pygmy owl Glaucidium passerinum during the breeding period. The study area is located in the the Aosta Valley, in the western Italian Alps. Prey samples and data about breeding success and nests characteristics have been collected on 11 nest sites. The analysis aimed to recognize the factors creating the differences in the diet among the different known nesting sites. Moreover, it has been tested whether the differences in the diet, e.g. the proportion of small mammals or the species richness in the diet and the surrounding habitat, do have an effect on the breeding success. Finally, the diet of this alpine population has been compared with other populations studied in northern and central Europe

Fragilities of Historical Settlements Targeted by Heritage Tourism: Comparison and Ex-Post Assessment of Two Water Towns in the Qingpu District of Shanghai

Heritage tourism in Chinese historic sites has gained importance and has become a widely adopted development strategy that uses architecture and urban ensembles to sell cultural experiences. These sites, immersed in heritage settings or traditional ambiences, embody an extraordinary dimension of Chinese tangible and intangible culture, which call for in-depth studies and critical understanding. This paper discusses how a condition of fragility has materialized under the aegis of economic boosts. The impact of cultural tourism on historic sites is assessed by considering two similar water towns expressing exceptional cultural values, Zhujiajiao and Liantang. The methodology envisaged ethnographic tools to highlight how development strategies have altered local communities, discussing the consequences on physical authenticity and sociocultural equilibriums

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE AS A FORM OF RESILIENCE IN CHINESE COUNTRYSIDE TRANSITION. EVIDENCE FROM A RURAL SETTLEMENT IN THE FUJIAN PROVINCE

Abstract. Chinese rural settlements face different critical challenges in the current framework of rapid transformation. Tangible and intangible elements related to the traditional spatial organisation of siting and living are threatened by a socio-economic transition which appears to be indifferent to local specificities. Such aspects express and shape the rural built fabric, which shows no resistance to the pressures of both planned and spontaneous development. The few exceptions are mainly represented by the survived vernacular architectures, whose function goes beyond practical uses, such as the ancestral halls. Their spatial principles persisted in the malleable rural patterns, making such buildings the physical carrier of local traditions. This paper takes a rural village in the Fujian Province, China, as a paradigmatic case study to explore the settlement pattern's degree of resilience. The data collected in two years of fieldworks allows authors to assert the prominent role played by the fifteen ancestral halls of the village. After introducing the current patterns of change, with a focus on the phenomenon of rural hollowing, the paper emphasises both the spatial rules and the contextual relationships of vernacular buildings. In the conclusions, we remark their importance against the backdrop of current land use development, suggesting to reconsider the vernacular buildings as an alternative approach for more conscious and sustainable development

Liquid morphologies and capillary forces between three spherical beads

Equilibrium shapes of coalesced pendular bridges in a static assembly of spherical beads are computed by numerical minimization of the interfacial energy. Our present study focuses on generic bead configurations involving three beads, one of which is in contact to the two others while there is a gap of variable size between the latter. In agreement with previous experimental studies, we find interfacial `trimer' morphologies consisting of three coalesced pendular bridges, and `dimers' of two coalesced bridges. In a certain range of the gap opening we observe a bistability between the dimer and trimer morphology during shrinking and growth. The magnitude of the corresponding capillary forces in presence of a trimer or dimer depends, besides the gap opening only on the volume or Laplace pressure of liquid. For a given Laplace pressure, the capillary forces in presence of a trimer are slightly larger than the force of a single bridges at the same gap opening, which could explain the shallow maximum and plateau of the capillary cohesion of a wetting liquid for saturations in the funicular regime

The Role of Contact Angle Hysteresis for Fluid Transport in Wet Granular Matter

The stability of sand castles is determined by the structure of wet granulates. Experimental data about the size distribution of fluid pockets are ambiguous about their origin. We discovered that contact angle hysteresis plays a fundamental role in the equilibrium distribution of bridge volumes, and not geometrical disorder as commonly conjectured, which has substantial consequences on the mechanical properties of wet granular beds, including a history dependent rheology and lowered strength. Our findings are obtained using a novel model where the Laplace pressures, bridge volumes and contact angles are dynamical variables associated to the contact points. While accounting for contact line pinning, we track the temporal evolution of each bridge. We observe a cross-over to a power-law decay of the variance of capillary pressures at late times and a saturation of the variance of bridge volumes to a finite value connected to contact line pinning. Large scale simulations of liquid transport in the bridge network reveal that the equilibration dynamics at early times is well described by a mean field model. The spread of final bridge volumes can be directly related to the magnitude of contact angle hysteresis

INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE AND LANDSCAPE: THE ROLE OF WATER IN THE ARCHITECTURAL REACTIVATION DESIGN FOR THE BURGO PAPER MILL IN MANTUA

The paper is part of a research project, carried out within the Polytechnic University of Milan about the Burgo Paper Mill, an industrial settlement involved in the production of paper near the UNESCO World Heritage site of Mantua, on the banks of the Lago di Mezzo lake. The area represents an exceptional case study related to the topics of industrial reconversion, landscape, environmental design, and the valorization of cultural and natural heritage. The recent change in the site ownership fostered a new life cycle, which represents the occasion for the enhancement of its architectural and landscape heritage. The research project focused on a new system of relations between architectural artefacts and open spaces, with a particular consideration about socioeconomic and cultural themes, as well as the role that water can play in the future development of the site. Water plays a key role in the definition of cultural and natural elements in this research project, revealing new possibilities for revitalization of the industrial settlement as well as the whole territorial framework. Between theoretical thought and design experimentation, pursuing to tackle the problem in its whole complexity, the authors understood the necessity of a multi-scalar approach structured within a time-based strategy

Towards Design Strategies for Requalifying the Rural: A Comparative Study of Hollow Settlements in China and Italy

Smallsettlementsincountrysideareascallforagrowingnumberofchallengesagainst the backdrop of global rural-urban transition. In this paper, we focus on the processes of depopulation and building abandonment in rural areas of China and Italy. We consider two similar experiences taking place in different contexts, and suggest useful design tools for strategies of architectural requalification. In China, we study a small village in Fujian Province as a paradigmatic example of the well-known phenomenon of “hollow villages.” The word hollow refers to the emptying of dwellings in the central parts of rural settlements, while, paradoxically, their fringe areas are the object of residential land expansion. This notion was coined in the early 1990s to describe the spatial, social and economic consequences of the combination of a rural exodus and a rampant urbanisation. In Italy, we consider a case study in the Province of Trento, where the evacuation of village central cores follow the sprawling towards the village’s outskirts. Even though the recent trends show that the demographic haemorrhage away from the village is declining, the abandonment of old houses in favour of the construction of new ones seems relentless. Such issues gather a growing interest by cultural, political and academic institutions. Never the less, little attention has been paid to the similarities of architectural experiences across national boundaries. Aiming to bridge this gap, we compare the results of our studies on the architectural requalification of rural settlements in both China and Italy. Our methodology embodies a graphic representation of our fieldwork, examines the relationships between the built form and its natural framework and analytically assesses the physical condition and use level of the existing buildings. Despite local specificities, there are significant overlaps from which these and other cases can gain insight. We observe that similar transnational issues can be stimulated by global transition processes driven by local forces and context-related patterns of spatial transformation. More specifically, the intensity and the extent of hollowing of Chinese villages stimulates the broad testing of a spectrum of methodologies and knowledges. These can be both inherited from other contexts or experimented with as innovative approaches. From this perspective, the Italian experience, where the abandonment dates backwards in time, is a fruitful source of comparison

O uso do mapa de risco ocupacional como ferramenta do sistema de gestão da saúde e segurança do trabalhador

Monografia apresentada ao Setor de Pós-graduação da Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense - UNESC, para a obtenção do título de Especialista em Engenharia de Segurança do Trabalho.Esta monografia de conclusão do curso de Especialização em Engenharia de Segurança do Trabalho apresenta a importância do MAPA DE RISCO OCUPACIONAL. Pois, é a garantia da saúde e a preservação da integridade física e psicológica do trabalhador. A metodologia adotada foi o levantamento de referências bibliográficas relativas ao assunto, análise de documentação da empresa, visita in loco e entrevistas sobre o mapa de risco. O mapa de risco serve como ferramenta, fazendo com que os trabalhadores mudem suas posturas ao entrar nos diversos setores e locais de trabalho, alertando-os do grau de risco e qual o tipo de risco encontrado naquele local, assim, ele pode evitar prejuízos que seriam causados a sua exposição. O mapa de risco pode ser da planta total da empresa ou pontual no próprio local. O ideal é que na entrada da empresa tenha-se um mapa de risco de todos os setores da mesma, isso funciona de forma preventiva, e orienta os trabalhadores a levarem os equipamentos de segurança sempre que realizarem suas funções, ou ainda, caso surja a necessidade de ir ao local de risco, devem estar equipados, em situações que o trabalhador não esteja equipado adequadamente, irá evitar os locais determinados como áreas de riscos. Após análise das atividades específicas, documentação, entrevistas e análise dos mapas específicos nos locais de trabalho, concluiu-se que a empresa utiliza esta ferramenta de forma positiva e reforça as vantagens do uso do mapa de risco ocupacional como instrumento do sistema de gestão da saúde e segurança do trabalhador