Polyculture as a tool to increase the economic income: A study case in the Gulf of Castellammare

Polyculture is a practice involving integration between organisms of different trophic levels (i.e. fish with low-trophic-level organism like molluscs and/or algae). This paper, reporting on a field experiment carried out during 2004 in the Gulf of Castellammare (South Tyrrhenian), showed that mussels transplanted in areas under fish farm influence grew up better than mussels transplanted far from fish farm. Thus, results pointed out polyculture as a reliable tool for i) increasing local bivalve production, ii) obtaining the reduction of importation from other countries and iii) increasing the environmental sustainability of fish aquaculture

Das Automobil im italienischen Futurismus und Faschismus: seine ästhetische und politische Bedeutung

"Die Rolle des Automobils im italienischen Futurismus und Faschismus ist das Thema der vorliegenden Arbeit. Ein historischer Exkurs soll die gesellschaftliche Bedeutungszuschreibung des Automobils als Modernitätssymbol und Freiheitsikone aufzeigen. Die Arbeit deckt einen Zeitraum von über 30 Jahren italienischer Geschichte ab: als Orientierungsdaten dienen die Veröffentlichung des futuristischen Manifests 1909 und der Eintritt Italiens in den Zweiten Weltkrieg 1940, wobei das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Ästhetik, Modernität und Nationalismus den kulturellen und politisch-ideologischen Rahmen bildet. Während die futuristische Maschinenästhetik in Zusammenhang mit dem herrschenden Leitbild des Automobils als Sport- und Luxusgerät behandelt wird, lässt sich die Ideologie des Faschismus in Verbindung mit dem Leitbild des Transportmittels für 'alle' herausarbeiten. Anhand von Manifesten und Zeitdokumenten werden die Elemente des Futurismus analysiert, die in direkter Verbindung mit der Durchsetzung eines technik- und autofreundlichen Denkens in der faschistischen Ideologie stehen. Dabei werden die entscheidenden Momente der Wirtschaftspolitik Italiens zwischen den zwei Weltkriegen behandelt, die in Zusammenhang mit der Geschichte des Automobils und der Automobilindustrie stehen. Aspekte wie die Beziehung zwischen der Automobilindustrie und dem faschistischen Regime sowie der Prozess der Herausbildung von Großunternehmen wie Fiat, Lancia und Alfa Romeo und das Aufkommen des Gebrauchswagens in protektionistischer Zeit stehen hier im Vordergrund. Zuletzt wird das Thema der Schaffung einer für das Automobil adäquaten Infrastruktur bzw. eines disziplinierenden und regulierenden Funktionsraumes bearbeitet, der mit dem Bau der ersten Autobahn der Welt, der autostrada kulminierte." (Autorenreferat)"This paper presents the automobile's role in Italian futurism and fascism. This is an issue showing the car's societal importance as a symbol of modernity and icon of freedom. The myth of the automobile once aligned with a passion for speed and dynamism shifts into a metaphor of life. The automobile represents a mechanized and totalitarian world vision in which the 'new', modern is tied with the machine. By covering over thirty years of Italian history, spanning the Futuristic Manifesto in 1909 to the entry of Italy in the World War II in 1940, the paper explores the strain between aesthetics, modernity, and nationalism set against a cultural and political-ideological background. While futuristic aesthetics perceive the automobile as an instrument of sports and luxury, fascist ideology implies a means of transportation for 'everybody'. This paper analyses elements of futurism connected to the implementation of a technology and automobile oriented ideology within the fascist ideology using appropriate manifestos and documents of the early twentieth century. This paper also investigates significant turning points in Italian economic policy in the two world wars relating to automobile history and industry. Relationships between the automobile industry and the fascist regime as well as development of large-scale enterprises such as Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo are key issues discussed in the paper. Lastly, a look is taken at automobile infrastructure development, a process culminating in building the first historically known highway, the autostrada." (author's abstract

What Medical Crowdfunding Campaigns Can Tell Us About Local Health System Gaps and Deficiencies: Exploratory Analysis of British Columbia, Canada

Background: There are a range of perceived gaps and shortcomings in the publicly funded Canadian health system. These include wait times for care, lack of public insurance coverage for dental care and pharmaceuticals, and difficulties accessing specialist care. Medical crowdfunding is a response to these gaps where individuals raise funds from their social networks to address health-related needs. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the potential of crowdfunding data to better understand what health-related needs individuals are using crowdfunding for, how these needs compare with the existing commentary on health system deficiencies, and the advantages and limitations of using crowdfunding campaigns to enhance or augment our understanding of perceived health system deficiencies.   Methods: Crowdfunding campaigns were scraped from the GoFundMe website. These campaigns were then limited to those originating in the metropolitan Vancouver region of two health authorities during 2018. These campaigns were then further limited to those raising funds to allow the treatment of a medical problem or related to needs arising from ill health. These campaigns were then reviewed to identify the underlying health issue and motivation for pursuing crowdfunding.   Results: We identified 423 campaigns for health-related needs. These campaigns requested CAD $8,715,806 (US$6,088,078) in funding and were pledged CAD $3,477,384 (US$2,428,987) from 27,773 donors. The most common underlying medical condition for campaign recipients was cancer, followed by traumatic injuries from collisions and brain injury and stroke. By far, the most common factor of motivation for crowdfunding was seeking financial support for wages lost because of illness (232/684, 33.9%). Some campaigns (65/684, 9.5%) sought help with purchasing medical equipment and supplies; 8.2% (56/684) sought to fund complementary, alternative, or unproven treatments including experimental interventions; 7.2% (49/684) sought financial support to cover travel-related costs, including in-province and out-of-province (49/684, 7.2%) travel; and 6.3% (43/684) campaigns sought help to pay for medication.   Conclusions: This analysis demonstrates the potential of crowdfunding data to present timely and context-specific user-created insights into the perceived health-related financial needs of some Canadians. Although the literature on perceived limitations of the Canadian health system focuses on wait times for care and limited access to specialist services, among other issues, these campaigners were much more motivated by gaps in the wider social system such as costs related to unpaid time off work and travel to access care. Our findings demonstrate spatial differences in the underlying medical problems, motivations for crowdfunding, and success using crowdfunding that warrants additional attention. These differences may support established concerns that medical crowdfunding is most commonly used by individuals from relatively privileged socioeconomic backgrounds. We encourage the development of new resources to harness the power of crowdfunding data as a supplementary source of information for Canadian health system stakeholders

O COMPLEXO INDUSTRIAL PORTUÁRIO DE SUAPE: IMPACTOS SOCIOECONÔMICOS E AMBIENTAIS (2000-2016)

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo principal analisar a importância do complexo industrial da região de Suape para o estado de Pernambuco, refletindo sobre os passivos ambientais e sociais da região, verificando como o polo industrial de Suape impactou para o desenvolvimento econômico do estado, demonstrando os impactos ambientais e sociais que foram causados em decorrência da construção do Complexo Industrial Portuário de Suape, analisando a Agenda 2030 e os seus Objetivos de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ODS) e a aplicação do ISO 14001 para a gestão ambiental das empresas. Com isso, propõe-se uma reflexão para saber se é possível que ocorra um equilíbrio entre o meio ambiente e o desenvolvimento sustentável no Complexo Industrial Portuário de Suape. Além disso, este trabalho é exposto através do embasamento teórico da Teoria da Interdependência Complexa e da Globalização fazendo uso da metodologia de estudo de caso, onde caracteriza e examina acontecimentos, agentes e situações complexas, com múltiplas dimensões teóricas e empíricas

Application of machine learning techniques to simulate the evaporative fraction and its relationship with environmental variables in corn crops

Abstract Background The evaporative fraction (EF) represents an important biophysical parameter reflecting the distribution of surface available energy. In this study, we investigated the daily and seasonal patterns of EF in a multi-year corn cultivation located in southern Italy and evaluated the performance of five machine learning (ML) classes of algorithms: the linear regression (LR), regression tree (RT), support vector machine (SVM), ensembles of tree (ETs) and Gaussian process regression (GPR) to predict the EF at daily time step. The adopted methodology consisted of three main steps that include: (i) selection of the EF predictors; (ii) comparison of the different classes of ML; (iii) application, cross-validation of the selected ML algorithms and comparison with the observed data. Results Our results indicate that SVM and GPR were the best classes of ML at predicting the EF, with a total of four different algorithms: cubic SVM, medium Gaussian SVM, the Matern 5/2 GPR, and the rational quadratic GPR. The comparison between observed and predicted EF in all four algorithms, during the training phase, were within the 95% confidence interval: the R2 value between observed and predicted EF was 0.76 (RMSE 0.05) for the medium Gaussian SVM, 0.99 (RMSE 0.01) for the rational quadratic GPR, 0.94 (RMSE 0.02) for the Matern 5/2 GPR, and 0.83 (RMSE 0.05) for the cubic SVM algorithms. Similar results were obtained during the testing phase. The results of the cross-validation analysis indicate that the R2 values obtained between all iterations for each of the four adopted ML algorithms were basically constant, confirming the ability of ML as a tool to predict EF. Conclusion ML algorithms represent a valid alternative able to predict the EF especially when remote sensing data are not available, or the sky conditions are not suitable. The application to different geographical areas, or crops, requires further development of the model based on different data sources of soils, climate, and cropping systems

Prvi nalaz plavog raka Callinectes sapidus (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) u središnjem i južnom Tirenskom moru

Four individuals of the non-indigenous blue crab, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896 (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) were collected during commercial trammel net operations in fall 2019 and winter 2020 along the coast of NW Sicily. The crabs were collected in very shallow waters on a sandy bottom close to the coast. Although blue crabs are now widespread along most eastern, western and northern Mediterranean coasts, this is the first record of this species from the central and southern Tyrrhenian Sea.Četiri jedinke authtonog plavog raka, Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, 1896, (Crustacea, Decapoda, Portunidae) prikupljena su tijekom komercijalnog ulova u jesen 2019. i zimu 2020. uz obalu sjevernozapadne Sicilije. Jedinke su sakupljane u vrlo plitkim vodama, na pješčanom dnu, te u blizini obale. Iako su plavi rakovi danas rašireni duž većine istočne, zapadne i sjeverne obale Sredozemlja, ovo je prvi nalaz ove vrste iz središnjeg i južnog Tirenskog mora

Diseño, desarrollo y fabricación de sistema de frenado para vehículo de bajo consumo

[ES] En el presente proyecto se detalla el proceso seguido para diseñar, desarrollar y fabricar el nuevo sistema de frenado para el vehículo de bajo consumo del Campus de Alcoy de la UPV. El actual sistema de frenado se activa mediante las manetas de bicicleta colocadas en el actual manillar del prototipo de equipo IDF Eco-marathon, el sistema se acciona con las manos. La normativa de la competición Shell Eco-marathon, en la que participa el vehículo, tiene nuevas reglas sobre la situación del sistema de frenado que el cumplir. Con este trabajo, se adapta el prototipo a las nuevas características de la normativa mediante la ayuda del programa Siemens NX Nastran.[EN] This project details the process followed to design, develop and manufacture the new braking system for the low-consumption vehicle of UPV Campus de Alcoy. The current braking system is activated by the bicycle handles placed on the current handlebars of the prototype IDF Eco-marathon team; the system is hand operated. The regulations of the Shell Eco-marathon competition, in which the vehicle participates, has new rules on the status of the braking system that the prototype must comply with. With this project, the prototype is adapted to the new features of the regulations through the help of the Siemens NX Nastran software.Zenone Giménez, A. (2020). Diseño, desarrollo y fabricación de sistema de frenado para vehículo de bajo consumo. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/154456TFG

Das Automobil im italienischen Futurismus und Faschismus: Seine ästhetische und politische Bedeutung

Die Rolle des Automobils im italienischen Futurismus und Faschismus ist das Thema der vorliegenden Arbeit. Ein historischer Exkurs soll die gesellschaftliche Bedeutungszuschrei-bung des Automobils als Modernitätssymbol und Freiheitsikone aufzeigen. Die Arbeit deckt einen Zeitraum von über 30 Jahren italienischer Geschichte ab: als Orientie-rungsdaten dienen die Veröffentlichung des futuristischen Manifests 1909 und der Eintritt Italiens in den Zweiten Weltkrieg 1940, wobei das Spannungsverhältnis zwischen Ästhetik, Modernität und Nationalismus den kulturellen und politisch-ideologischen Rahmen bildet. Während die futuristische Maschinenästhetik in Zusammenhang mit dem herrschenden Leit-bild des Automobils als Sport- und Luxusgerät behandelt wird, lässt sich die Ideologie des Faschismus in Verbindung mit dem Leitbild des Transportmittels für ‘alle’ herausarbeiten. Anhand von Manifesten und Zeitdokumenten werden die Elemente des Futurismus analy-siert, die in direkter Verbindung mit der Durchsetzung eines technik- und autofreundlichen Denkens in der faschistischen Ideologie stehen. Dabei werden die entscheidenden Momente der Wirtschaftspolitik Italiens zwischen den zwei Weltkriegen behandelt, die in Zusammenhang mit der Geschichte des Automobils und der Automobilindustrie stehen. Aspekte wie die Beziehung zwischen der Automobilindustrie und dem faschistischen Regime sowie der Prozess der Herausbildung von Großunternehmen wie Fiat, Lancia und Alfa Romeo und das Aufkommen des Gebrauchswagens in pro-tektionistischer Zeit stehen hier im Vordergrund. Zuletzt wird das Thema der Schaffung einer für das Automobil adäquaten Infrastruktur bzw. eines disziplinierenden und regulierenden Funktionsraumes bearbeitet, der mit dem Bau der ersten Autobahn der Welt, der autostrada kulminierte. -- This paper presents the automobile's role in Italian futurism and fascism. This is an issue showing the car's societal importance as a symbol of modernity and icon of freedom. The myth of the automobile once aligned with a passion for speed and dynamism shifts into a metaphor of life. The automobile represents a mechanized and totalitarian world vision in which the ‘new’, modern is tied with the machine. By covering over thirty years of Italian history, spanning the Futuristic Manifesto in 1909 to the entry of Italy in the World War II in 1940, the paper explores the strain between aes-thetics, modernity, and nationalism set against a cultural and political-ideological back-ground. While futuristic aesthetics perceive the automobile as an instrument of sports and luxury, fascist ideology implies a means of transportation for ‘everybody’. This paper analy-ses elements of futurism connected to the implementation of a technology and automobile oriented ideology within the fascist ideology using appropriate manifestos and documents of the early twentieth century. This paper also investigates significant turning points in Italian economic policy in the two world wars relating to automobile history and industry. Relationships between the automo-bile industry and the fascist regime as well as development of large-scale enterprises such as Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo are key issues discussed in the paper. Lastly, a look is taken at automobile infrastructure development, a process culminating in building the first historically known highway, the autostrada.