Measuring and modelling soil evaporation in an irrigated olive orchard to improve water management

The aim of this study was to estimate soil evaporation (Es) in an intensive olive orchard. Measurements of Es were performed for 19 days using microlysimeters, during summers 2010, 2011 and 2012 in southeast Portugal. In order to relate each area type to radiation transmissivity, ground cover measurements were performed over the years. These data were used to calibrate and validate an empirical model for Es estimation. Measured daily average Es was 0.55 0.14 mm; the model estimated 0.53 0.18 mm for the same days, with a determination coe cient of 0.94. This corresponds to 9% of the reference evapotranspiration, representing well the overall values estimated for the summer, except for days after rain. Regarding the wet area, measured Es for the validation data set was 2.42 L/(m2 of wet area), the estimated was 2.49 L/(m2 of wet area). Measured average Es in dry area (validation data set) was 0.42 L/(m2 of dry area), estimated Es was 0.43 L/(m2 of dry area). The large exposed dry area had a significant contribution to evaporation. On average, estimated Es during a typical Mediterranean summer was 10% of reference evapotranspiration, representing 30% of transpiration and 23% of evapotranspirationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

LIFE15 ENV/IT/000392 − LIFE VITISOM Project, viticulture innovation technology and GHG emission monitoring

The main aim of the LIFE VITISOM Project is to promote an innovative solution for the management of the organic fertilisation in the viticultural sector. In parallel, different activities of monitoring of impacts have been planned. Specifically, a deep study about GHG emissions has been organised. In this context, different studies are being carried out: a continuous monitoring of net carbon fluxes (NEE) through the Eddy Covariance method, followed by University of Padua which allows data to be obtained at vineyard ecosystem level; a spatial monitoring of CH4, N2O and CO2, through a mobile instrument for measuring the variation of GHG developed by West Systems within the LIFE+ IPNOA Project. In the first case, two Eddy Covariance towers have been installed, one at Guido Berlucchi (Franciacorta, Lombardy) and one at Bosco del Merlo (Lison, Veneto). Additionally, spatial monitoring is being carried out in five testing sites involved in the LIFE VITISOM project. In this case, different organic fertilisation managements are compared

Inter-society consensus for the use of inhaled corticosteroids in infants, children and adolescents with airway diseases

Background: In 2019, a multidisciplinary panel of experts from eight Italian scientific paediatric societies developed a consensus document for the use of inhaled corticosteroids in the management and prevention of the most common paediatric airways disorders. The aim is to provide healthcare providers with a multidisciplinary document including indications useful in the clinical practice. The consensus document was intended to be addressed to paediatricians who work in the Paediatric Divisions, the Primary Care Services and the Emergency Departments, as well as to Residents or PhD students, paediatric nurses and specialists or consultants in paediatric pulmonology, allergy, infectious diseases, and ear, nose, and throat medicine. Methods: Clinical questions identifying Population, Intervention(s), Comparison and Outcome(s) were addressed by methodologists and a general agreement on the topics and the strength of the recommendations (according to the GRADE system) was obtained following the Delphi method. The literature selection included secondary sources such as evidence-based guidelines and systematic reviews and was integrated with primary studies subsequently published. Results: The expert panel provided a number of recommendations on the use of inhaled corticosteroids in preschool wheezing, bronchial asthma, allergic and non-allergic rhinitis, acute and chronic rhinosinusitis, adenoid hypertrophy, laryngitis and laryngospasm. Conclusions: We provided a multidisciplinary update on the current recommendations for the management and prevention of the most common paediatric airways disorders requiring inhaled corticosteroids, in order to share useful indications, identify gaps in knowledge and drive future research

"Delirium Day": A nationwide point prevalence study of delirium in older hospitalized patients using an easy standardized diagnostic tool

Background: To date, delirium prevalence in adult acute hospital populations has been estimated generally from pooled findings of single-center studies and/or among specific patient populations. Furthermore, the number of participants in these studies has not exceeded a few hundred. To overcome these limitations, we have determined, in a multicenter study, the prevalence of delirium over a single day among a large population of patients admitted to acute and rehabilitation hospital wards in Italy. Methods: This is a point prevalence study (called "Delirium Day") including 1867 older patients (aged 65 years or more) across 108 acute and 12 rehabilitation wards in Italian hospitals. Delirium was assessed on the same day in all patients using the 4AT, a validated and briefly administered tool which does not require training. We also collected data regarding motoric subtypes of delirium, functional and nutritional status, dementia, comorbidity, medications, feeding tubes, peripheral venous and urinary catheters, and physical restraints. Results: The mean sample age was 82.0 \ub1 7.5 years (58 % female). Overall, 429 patients (22.9 %) had delirium. Hypoactive was the commonest subtype (132/344 patients, 38.5 %), followed by mixed, hyperactive, and nonmotoric delirium. The prevalence was highest in Neurology (28.5 %) and Geriatrics (24.7 %), lowest in Rehabilitation (14.0 %), and intermediate in Orthopedic (20.6 %) and Internal Medicine wards (21.4 %). In a multivariable logistic regression, age (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.01-1.05), Activities of Daily Living dependence (OR 1.19, 95 % CI 1.12-1.27), dementia (OR 3.25, 95 % CI 2.41-4.38), malnutrition (OR 2.01, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), and use of antipsychotics (OR 2.03, 95 % CI 1.45-2.82), feeding tubes (OR 2.51, 95 % CI 1.11-5.66), peripheral venous catheters (OR 1.41, 95 % CI 1.06-1.87), urinary catheters (OR 1.73, 95 % CI 1.30-2.29), and physical restraints (OR 1.84, 95 % CI 1.40-2.40) were associated with delirium. Admission to Neurology wards was also associated with delirium (OR 2.00, 95 % CI 1.29-3.14), while admission to other settings was not. Conclusions: Delirium occurred in more than one out of five patients in acute and rehabilitation hospital wards. Prevalence was highest in Neurology and lowest in Rehabilitation divisions. The "Delirium Day" project might become a useful method to assess delirium across hospital settings and a benchmarking platform for future surveys

Comparison of sensible heat fluxes by large aperture scintillometry and eddy covariance over two contrasting 12climate vineyards

Measurements of turbulent energy fluxes between land-surface and the atmosphere are commonly carried out applying the eddy covariance (EC) method. Nevertheless, in some cases (e.g. surface heterogeneity, remote sensing or model validation), the use of a Large Aperture Scintillometer (LAS) is more appropriate. We compared LAS and EC measurements of sensible heat flux (H) over two contrasting vineyards of Southern (MIN site) and Northern (LIS site) Italy, mainly differentiating for climate (i.e. dry and humid), water management (i.e. irrigated and rainfed), and LAS setup. The relationship between H by LAS (HLAS) and by EC (HEC) was good at both sites, but with slightly higher HLAS. At MIN, where multiple EC stations were deployed, the best agreement was found with the station in the center of LAS path. Surface heterogeneity due to irrigation had different impact on HLAS depending on location of the source area. The canopy growth at LIS during the study period caused the approaching of LAS beam to the roughness sublayer, resulting in a reduction of HLAS compared to HEC. The closure of energy balance was higher (79%) at MIN and lower (64%) at LIS, but the agreement between HLAS and HEC was similar at both sites, suggesting that particular attention should be given to latent heat flux measurements by EC in order to better understand the energy balance closure issue