High speed/high capacity railway and regional development - evaluation of effects on spatial accessibility

In the last decade the theme of high speed infrastructure in Italy has been deeply debated, with different political and technical opinions, which have expanded the time for projects and constructions. As a consequence of this long debate, a redefinition of the whole system, moving from high speed to high speed/high capacity railway system (HS/HC) has been agreed. This new model can be considered more suitable especially for the northern Italy corridor, which is highly populated and densely urbanised. Moreover, while the environmental effects of transportation facilities and of high speed infrastructure are relatively well known in literature since the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure has been applied to several study cases, the effects on economical and geographical structure are less studied and so quite often misunderstood or underestimated. According to a demand-side approach, infrastructure investments will follow mobility needs by the economical system, while from a supply-side approach infrastructure are a crucial means of regional growth. This paper presents a study case in northern Italy (the Milan-Verona track, of about 140 km of lenght), and it shows how spatial effect of a transport network can spread off far from the line, determining a new regional hierarchy and new location opportunity in a wide and highly populated area. A comparison has been made between the original high speed model and the most recent high speed-high capacity model. In the two cases the work investigates what is the area where the new infrastructure shows effects, at short and long term. With a spatial interaction model, used to represent residential location in relation to the distribution of workplaces, HS/HC line efficiency by accessibility calculus has been measured, showing several important results. Those results may be of interest even in similar European context where the HS programme is developing.

Discriminating among multiple components affecting bulk atmospheric deposition chemistry: a multivariate approach using data from a forest plot in Calabria (Southern Italy)

This study examines the relationships between meteorology and atmospheric deposition chemistry on the basis of 4 years of monitoring in an area of Calabria (Piano Limina) under the National Integrated Programme for the Control of Forest Ecosystems. The location of the area and its low anthropogenic impact meant that phenomena of locally originating alkaline dust deposition could be distinguished from those originating long distances away. The analysis performed on the whole dataset revealed the interaction between temperature, solar radiation and ionic concentrations; the effects of the atmospheric transport of compounds, with lower concentrations during calm conditions; and a marked increase of calcium, alkalinity and pH with winds from W-SW, owing to the transport of alkaline dust from North Africa, in agreement with thematic maps on the synoptic scale. The possible influence of two volcanic events deriving from Stromboli and Etna is discussed. After elimination of the Saharan dust and volcanic events, a multivariate analysis showed the effects of compounds deriving from anthropogenic activities. Sulphate, nitrate and ammonium were closely correlated with NW winds; air masses from this direction come from the continental land mass and the sea, crossing the Calabrian plain before being deposited as precipitation on the Apennine chain. The component from NW also includes a high marine contribution, with maximum values of chloride and sodium

Phloem cytochemical modification and gene expression following the recovery of apple plants from apple proliferation

Recovery of apple trees from apple proliferation was studied by combining ultrastructural, cytochemical, and gene expression analyses to possibly reveal changes linked to recovery-associated resistance. When compared with either healthy or visibly diseased plants, recovered apple trees showed abnormal callose and phloem-protein accumulation in their leaf phloem. Although cytochemical localization detected Ca2+ ions in the phloem of all the three plant groups, Ca2+ concentration was remarkably higher in the phloem cytosol of recovered trees. The expression patterns of five genes encoding callose synthase and of four genes encoding phloem proteins were analyzed by quantitative real-time reverse transcription- polymerase chain reaction. In comparison to both healthy and diseased plants, four of the above nine genes were remarkably upregulated in recovered trees. As in infected apple trees, phytoplasma disappear from the crown during winter, but persist in the roots, and it is suggested that callose synthesis/deposition and phloem-protein plugging of the sieve tubes would form physical barriers preventing the recolonization of the crown during the following spring. Since callose deposition and phloem-protein aggregation are both Ca2+-dependent processes, the present results suggest that an inward flux of Ca2+ across the phloem plasma membrane could act as a signal for activating defense reactions leading to recovery in phytoplasma-infected apple trees.L'articolo é disponibile sul sito dell'editore: http://www.apsjournals.apsnet.or

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Urban infrastructures and physical hazards: a challenge for planning

Physical hazards and their interrelation with the urban habit are likely to be more and more important within the process of urban and regional planning. Traditionally, an in Italy as well, Governments have attempted to tackle disasters after they have occurred, by means of measures aimed at mitagating the effects that future events might have on society. But such measures have proved to be inadequate for bringing risk level down to socially acceptable levels. During the last decades Italian cities have often grown up without concern for the problems aroused by physical hazards and underestimating the consequencies of land use transformations that may cause further risks, such an an increase of flooding hazard, for example. The demand for an environmentally sustainable urban growth forces decision makers to set up a methodology of territorial analysis, where spaces is considered as a complex system and the quality and quantity of relations among the elements of such systems as one of the prominent index of the damage caused by an event. So that vulnerability of human settlements (built-up ares and infrastructures) become (or rather should be) structural contents of plans. This paper presents a methodological approach to the analysis of regional infrastrucure vulnerability and consequent options for planning and land use management. The effects of a disaster and the related evolution of the system are forseseen in order to reduce impacts and damage and to set up a quick restoring. An interactive model has been used for the analysis of relations, as tested in a study case in the North of Italy. The use of the model allows planners to check scenarios and to better suit the infrastracture facilities

Seed Oil from Ten Algerian Peanut Landraces for Edible Use and Biodiesel Production.

As a result of a recent ad hoc prospection of the Algerian territory, a collection of peanut (groundnut; Arachis hypogaea L.) landraces was established, covering a remarkable array of diversity in terms of morphological and physiological features, as well as of adaptation to local bioclimatic conditions. In the present work, the oils extracted from the seeds of these landraces were evaluated in terms of edible properties and suitability for biodiesel production. As for edible use, a low free acidity (ranging from 0.62 to 1.21%) and a high oleic acid content (44.61-50.94%) were common features, although a poor stability to oxidation [high peroxide values, high spectrophotometric indices, and low % of inhibition in the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH)· test] was observed in a few cases. As for biodiesel production, low values of acidity [1.23-2.40 mg KOH (g oil)(-1)], low iodine values [90.70-101.54 g I2 (g oil)(-1)], high cetane numbers (56.95-58.88) and high calorific values (higher heating value 37.34-39.27 MJ kg(-1)) were measured. Edible properties and suitability for biodiesel production were discussed with respect to the German standard DIN 51605 for rapeseed oil and to the EN 14214 standard, respectively. One way ANOVA and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis showed significant differences among the oils from the Algerian peanut landraces