Latent sprawl patterns and the spatial distribution of businesses in a southern European city

The relocation of businesses beyond the consolidated city is an important aspect of recent urbanization trends. With economic restructuring driven by suburbanization and counter-urbanization, Southern European metropolitan areas experienced distinct growth patterns compared with north-western Europe. The present study assesses the impact of recent changes in the spatial distribution of businesses on land-use structure, sprawl trends and land consumption in a Mediterranean urban region (Athens, Greece) with the aim to identify economic drivers of sprawl and to inform urban containment strategies. Businesses showed two distinct localization patterns: manufacture, publishing and transport companies, construction and hotels were concentrated in urban municipalities; real estate, finance, high-tech, telecommunication, mining and energy enterprises settled preferentially in suburban municipalities. Dispersed urban expansion mainly reflects the spatial relocation of economic activities with high returns on capital to cheaper land. High-tech enterprises and finance/real estate businesses dominated the economic structure of municipalities with sprawled settlements. Policies securing economic development and a land-saving spatial structure are increasingly required to work towards integrated measures promoting semi-compact metropolitan poles and containing deregulated urban expansion

Towards (spatially) unbalanced development? A joint assessment of regional disparities in socioeconomic and territorial variables in Italy

The present study assesses disparities in the spatial distribution of three indicators evaluating respectively economic growth (per capita value added), sustainable development (a sustainable development index composing 99 individual variables) and the quality of the natural capital (Environmental Sensitive Area Index composing 14 individual variables) in Italy. The analysis was carried out on three different geographical domains (3 divisions (north, central and south Italy), 20 administrative regions and 103 provinces) with municipalities as the elementary spatial unit. While the distribution of the three indicators was coherent across space, the coefficient of variation of the three indicators, taken as a proxy of regional disparities, showed a contrasting spatial pattern. Domains with higher average values of the sustainable development index showed a lower variability among municipalities, indicating a less divided territorial context. By contrast, income and natural capital disparities are decoupled from the average level of the respective indexes. Multivariate analysis identifies a north-south gradient reflecting the divide between competitive and economically-disadvantaged regions in Italy. Results provide an informative base to implement sustainability policies in countries characterized by persistent socioeconomic disparitie

Recession, resilience, local labour markets: wealthier is better?

Economic expansion and recession have shaped the long-term evolution of local economic systems, exemplifying causes and consequences of territorial disparities and alimenting the debate on regional resilience. The present study investigates changes (2004–2013) in the spatial structure of two labour market indicators in Italy (participation and unemployment rates) during the most recent expansion and recession waves, so as to identify socioeconomic and territorial factors influencing short-term performances of local labour markets. Specialization in advanced industry (such as precision mechanics) is one of the most important factors associated to low employment losses during recession in Italy. Our results offers a contribution to the debate on regional resilience by reconnecting it to the more general issue of spatial disparities. We aim to shed light on the impact of institutional change and external shocks on the evolutionary path of local economic systems

Fast Ultrahigh-Density Writing of Low Conductivity Patterns on Semiconducting Polymers

The exceptional interest in improving the limitations of data storage, molecular electronics, and optoelectronics has promoted the development of an ever increasing number of techniques used to pattern polymers at micro and nanoscale. Most of them rely on Atomic Force Microscopy to thermally or electrostatically induce mass transport, thereby creating topographic features. Here we show that the mechanical interaction of the tip of the Atomic Force Microscope with the surface of a class of conjugate polymers produces a local increase of molecular disorder, inducing a localized lowering of the semiconductor conductivity, not associated to detectable modifications in the surface topography. This phenomenon allows for the swift production of low conductivity patterns on the polymer surface at an unprecedented speed exceeding 20 $\mu m s^{-1}$; paths have a resolution in the order of the tip size (20 nm) and are detected by a Conducting-Atomic Force Microscopy tip in the conductivity maps.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, published in Nature Communications as Article (8 pages

In vitro bactericidal activities of various extracts of saffron (Crocus sativus L.) stigmas from Torbat-e Heydarieh, Gonabad and Khorasan, Iran

Saffron is one of the most expensive spices in the world (20,000 €/kg) and this is due not only to the high demand for its various uses such as cooking, production of staining medicines, cosmetics etc., but also for the high costs of cultivation and production. Several studies have demonstrated that differences in saffron quality are mainly due to the methodology followed in the processing of stigmas, and environmental conditions independent of the origin. Some authors found phenotypic variations within cultivated saffron, but very limited genetic diversity. The reason for the very limited genetic diversity in cultivated saffron is explained by its asexual mode of reproduction (propagation). The aim of this study was to assess the antimicrobial activity of stigma saffron, which were tested against different bacteria strains. The results obtained from the antimicrobial activity study indicate that stigmas of C. sativus have some antimicrobial effect

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #102 to #122

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 9 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 34 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Calabria, Latium, Lombardy, Marche, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria

New national and regional Annex I Habitat records: from #26 to #36

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 1510*, 2130*, 2250*, 3180*, 3260, 5230*, 6410, 7140, 7220*, 9320 are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 14 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 20 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria

An overview of the Italian forest biodiversity and its conservation level, based on the first outcomes of the 4th Habitat Report ex-Art. 17

In 2019 the 4th Report ex-Art. 17 on the conservation status (CS) of Annex I Habitats of the 92/43/EEC Directive was expected by every EU/28 country, with reference to the period 2013-18. In Italy, the process was in charge to the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), on behalf of the Ministry for Environment, Land and Sea Protection (MATTM), with the scientific support of the Italian Botanical Society (SBI). A large group of thematic and territorial experts elaborated the available data concerning the 124 types of terrestrial and inland water Habitats present in Italy, 39 of which are represented by Forest Habitats (Group 9),. The main aim of the work was the evaluation of the overall CS of each Habitat by Biogeographic Region (Mediterranean, Continental and Alpine), for a total amount of 294 assessments. A high proportion of these (92, corresponding to 31% of the total) referred to Forest Habitats, including 20 marginal types for which the CS was not requested. The analysis was carried out at different scales: a) administrative territory, through the data contained in the ISPRA database, whose compilation was in charge to the Regions and Autonomous Provinces; b) Natura 2000 site, with the latest updates available (Standard Data Forms updated to 2018); c) national scale, implementing the distribution maps for each Habitat based on the European grid ETRS89-LAEA5210 (10x10 km2 mesh); d) Biogeographic Region, scale of the final assessment. Cartographic outcomes, associated databases and additional data used for the assessments will be available online on the ISPRA Portal as soon as the validation process by the European Commission will be completed. A dedicated archive named "HAB_IT" has been created in the national database "VegItaly" (1), managed by the Italian Society of Vegetation Science, where the phytosociological relevés representative of the various Annex I Habitats in Italy will be archived and freely accessible. An overview of the results regarding the Forest habitats is here provided, including a comparison with the outcomes of the former reporting cycle, the 3rd Report ex-Art. 17 (2). In several cases (e.g. 9120, 91L0), the distribution maps have been remarkably improved due to better knowledge and more fitful interpretation. The conservation status resulted as Favourable (FV) for 6,7%, Inadequate (U1) for 58,7% and Bad (U1) for 32,0% of the 72 assessed forest Habitat types. In no case there was an improvement of the conservation status, while in 6 cases a worsening of the conditions resulted from the data analysis, pointing out the Habitats types with a higher need of action. Similarly to other projects carried out as a team by the network of Annex I Habitat experts of the Italian Botanical Society and the Italian Society for Vegetation Science (e.g. 3, 4), this is another step in the direction of supporting the implementation of the 92/43/EEC "Habitat" Directive in Italy and Europe. On this ground, the high biodiversity of the Italian forest Habitats could be emphasized, however results pointed out that some rare or endemic types (e.g. Alnus cordata or Betula aetnensis-dominated forests) are still scarcely acknowledged by the most prominent EU conservation tools such as the Annex I to the "Habitat" Directive. 1) F. Landucci et al. (2012) Plant Biosyst., 146(4), 756-763 2) P. Genovesi et al. (2014) ISPRA, Serie Rapporti, 194/2014 3) E. Biondi et al. (2009) Società Botanica Italiana, MATTM, D.P.N., http://vnr.unipg.it/habitat/ 4) D. Gigante et al. (2016) Plant Sociology, 53(2), 77-8