Territorial Contradictions of Intensive Agriculture: The Incompatibility Between Modern Agriculture and the Construction of a Sustainable Landscape

The paper starts from the necessity of new paradigms for the future of cities and landscape. Circular economy and the connected saving and reuse of resources are fundamental. In this sense, it is necessary to introduce some of the premodern fundamental features: the resources recycle and the strict connection between urban and rural landscape, which modernity forgot, to pursue the present consumerist model, too simple and linear, and therefore ineffective in relation to the contemporary complexity. Technology, smart city and the related apparatus (agriculture of precision, industry 4.0 etc.) are important, but their goal should not consist in filling the cities with electronic toys, but in taking care of the whole urban environment in a clever way. After discussing these concepts, this paper proposes a more thoughtful approach, aimed at environmental sustainability, through the prevention and treatment of territorial pathologies. In order to cope with these pathologies, it is necessary a theoretical framework based on the concepts of thermodynamics

LOCK-IN EFFECTS OF EU R&D SPENDING ON REGIONAL GROWTH. A NON-PARAMETRIC AND SEMI-PARAMETRIC CONDITIONAL QUANTILE REGRESSIONS APPROACH

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we study the allocation of European Union (EU) expenditure in Research and Development (R&D) across European regions. Second, we focus on the effects of this variable on regional per capita GDP levels, and on regional growth rates. Using non-parametric and semi-parametric conditional quantiles, we found empirical evidence in favour of different effects of R&D expenditure among conditional quantiles of the per capita income distribution, and of the growth rates distribution. Moreover, we find a ?lock-in effect? of R&D spending. A positive relation between growth rates and this component of the EU expenditure is estimated for regions with higher growth rates, with these regions tending to have a higher and common growth rate as R&D expenditure increases. Furthermore, slow growth regions seem to approach to a common but lower growth rate. The estimates relative to the relationship between the per capita regional GDP and the R&D spending confirm these findings. El objetivo de este trabajo es doble. Primero, se asignan los gastos enInvestigación y Desarrollo (I+D) de la Unión Europea (EU) entre las regiones de lospaíses miembros. Segundo, se estudian los efectos de dicha variable sobre ladistribución del Producto Interior Bruto (PIB) per cápita y sobre la distribución de lastasas de crecimiento del PIB. Utilizando estimaciones cuantílicas condicionales noparamétricasy semi-paramétricas se encuentra evidencia empírica de efectosdiferenciados de los gastos en I+D sobre los cuantiles de dichas distribuciones. Además,se encuentra un efecto ¿cerrojo¿ del gasto europeo en I+D: existe una relación positivaentre este tipo de gasto y las tasas de crecimiento del PIB para regiones con altas tasasde crecimiento. Las regiones con bajos niveles de crecimiento tienden a crecer a tasasinferiores. Las estimaciones relativas al efecto del gasto en I+D sobre la distribución delPIB per capita de las regiones europeas confirman dichos resultados.Presupuesto EU, Gasto I+D, Crecimiento, Cuantiles Condicionales. EU Budget, R&D Expenditure, Growth Rates, Conditional Quantiles.

Estimating the wage premium to supervision for middle managers in different contexts: evidence from Germany and the UK

The analysis of wage distribution has attracted scholars from different disciplines seeking to develop theoretical arguments to explain the upward or downward trend. In particular, how the middle management wage premium changes in different contexts is a relatively neglected area of research. This study argues that wage distribution changes in different contexts, representing different forms of capitalism. To shed light on this, we considered the size and the shape of the wage premium to supervision paid to middle managers in Germany and the UK. We find evidence of two forms of context: middle managers are paid differently for the same task according to the economy where they work; of this amount, about half of the difference is related to the context. We frame the analysis within the literature on varieties of capitalism

Attributable risk from distributed lag models.

BACKGROUND: Measures of attributable risk are an integral part of epidemiological analyses, particularly when aimed at the planning and evaluation of public health interventions. However, the current definition of such measures does not consider any temporal relationships between exposure and risk. In this contribution, we propose extended definitions of attributable risk within the framework of distributed lag non-linear models, an approach recently proposed for modelling delayed associations in either linear or non-linear exposure-response associations. METHODS: We classify versions of attributable number and fraction expressed using either a forward or backward perspective. The former specifies the future burden due to a given exposure event, while the latter summarizes the current burden due to the set of exposure events experienced in the past. In addition, we illustrate how the components related to sub-ranges of the exposure can be separated. RESULTS: We apply these methods for estimating the mortality risk attributable to outdoor temperature in two cities, London and Rome, using time series data for the periods 1993-2006 and 1992-2010, respectively. The analysis provides estimates of the overall mortality burden attributable to temperature, and then computes the components attributable to cold and heat and then mild and extreme temperatures. CONCLUSIONS: These extended definitions of attributable risk account for the additional temporal dimension which characterizes exposure-response associations, providing more appropriate attributable measures in the presence of dependencies characterized by potentially complex temporal patterns

The biofilm matrix of Pseudomonas sp. OX1 grown on phenol is mainly constituted by alginate oligosaccharides

The structure of the major constituent of the biofilm matrix produced by Pseudomonas sp. OX1, when grown on phenol as the sole carbon source is described. This investigation, carried out by chemical analysis, NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF MS spectrometry, showed the presence of an oligosaccharide blend with the typical alginate structure, namely (1-->4) substituted beta-D-mannuronic (ManA) and alpha-L-guluronic acid (GulA). GulA residues were non-acetylated whereas ManA was always O-acetylated at C-2 or C-3

Urban Planning and Sustainable Storm Water Management: Gaps and Potential for Integration for Climate Adaptation Strategies

While climate change urges cities to define appropriate strategies for climate adaptation, urban planning practices are still unable to encompass a broader understanding of hydraulic hazards and to exploit the mitigation potential of nature-based solutions (NBS) for stormwater management. This inability is particularly deep in the Italian context, where the integration of climate adaptation strategies within urban planning is very limited; thus, one of the planner's overriding needs is to determine where NBS can be most effective. The objective of this paper is to identify key drivers and tools for the introduction of hydrological resilience assessments and sustainable storm water management in urban planning practices, as a contribution to climate adaptation strategies. Through a case study in the city of Bari, the paper proposes a method for identifying the most suitable urban areas for implementing NBS, i.e., areas where NBS are able to intercept runoff. On the other hand, the same approach allows one to evaluate in advance the impact of urban planning choices, or rather of the planned land use change. Finally, the planning tools that may favor the adoption of a NBS approach in urban planning are analyzed, with particular reference to the territorial landscape plan of the Apulia region and urban regeneration plans

Pedotechniques strategies to improve soil resilience against the impact of irrigation by municipal wastewater: using zeolitized tuffs as soil amendments

A research was started aiming at evaluating the possible use of natural zeolites as exchange conditioners to improve and make durable the soil resilience against the adverse effects of the use of anomalous wastewater, for irrigation purposes. To satisfy such aims, two zeolitized tuffs (ZTs), viz. a Neapolitan yellow tuff (NYT) and a clinoptilolite bearing tuff (ZCL), were tested as pedotechnical materials to improve soil resilience against the impact of treatment by a ‘dirty’ municipal wastewater (DMW)