Progettazione e impianto dell'oliveto

The establishment of new olive orchards represents the main way to renovate the olive sector in Italy, because they allow high yields and mechanization of cultural practices, particularly harvesting. The design of an olive orchard implies several important choices (area, cultivar, training system, planting density, orientation of the rows, type of trees) which must be made in relation to several factors, such as farm size, type of product that the grower wants to obtain (commercial target), system to mechanize harvesting, kind of cultivation (conventional, integrated or organic). The application of correct techniques for the preparation of the site, disposal of excessive water, execution of basal fertilization, kind of breaking ploughing to use, execution of the plantation, along with the application of correct cultural practices in the first year after planting, allow to create the best conditions for a fast and intense growth of the trees. All the choices and techniques related to new olive orchards are here reviewed to provide growers and experts a quick, easy-to-read, guide.Realizzato nell'ambito del progetto "Ricerca ed Innovazione per l'Olivicoltura Meridionale", finanziato dal MiPAA

Civitas Educationis: Testi, lingue e culture

What is the impact exerted by literary images in the context of translation and at which level of intersection do they meet in the field of critical reading of the text? One of the main objectives of comparative literature is the study of the foreign dimension of the literary text, the relation that the literary work entertains with the linguistic and cultural universe within which it co-exists and operates. The literary text creates at various levels - writing, reading and media use – encounters between languages, culture, and collective imagination and at the same time interchanges, manipulations and renderings of meaning. Exploring the foreign dimension of a literary creation requires that the analytical or interpretative project one is elaborating, takes into consideration the strictly textual, linguistic and cultural aspects that characterize the work, most importantly the translated version. Starting from these premises, the analysis proposed here, providing an operative exportable model for the text, focusses on processes through which the images of the Other exert a formative role in the various contexts in which the construction of the translated text is devised. This makes it possible to attribute a cultural influence in conjunction with a linguistic one, while reflecting on the translation, which is an increasingly topical issue nowadays, in the framework of the constant redefinition of identity to which we bear witness

The effect of asylum seeker reception centers on nearby house prices:Evidence from The Netherlands

With 20,945 asylum applications in 2016, the Netherlands received the tenth highest number of asylum requests in Europe. From the time of their arrival, and until a decision on their asylum requests is made, asylum seekers are sheltered in asylum seeker reception centers (ASRCs) across the country. This paper tests whether the opening of reception centers affects the prices of nearby houses. In doing so, likely differential effects across urban and non-urban areas, as well as for ASRCs of distinct capacities to host asylum seekers, are considered. The analysis uses hedonic regressions that are based on a staggered difference-in-differences design. Estimation comes from 2009–2017 information on the transaction prices of houses (N = 347,479) and the locations and opening dates of nearby ASRCs (N = 75). The results indicate that the opening of ASRCs causes the prices of some houses to fall by approximately 9.3%. However, this estimated effect pertains solely to single-family houses in less densely populated areas and for ASRC of high hosting capacity, whereas in cities no economically or statistically significant effects are found. The findings of this study have implications for the design of public policies that regard the spatial dispersion of ASRCs

Experimental detection of quantum channel capacities

We present an effcient experimental procedure that certifies non vanishing quantum capacities for qubit noisy channels. Our method is based on the use of a fixed bipartite entangled state, where the system qubit is sent to the channel input. A particular set of local measurements is performed at the channel output and the ancilla qubit mode, obtaining lower bounds to the quantum capacities for any unknown channel with no need of a quantum process tomography. The entangled qubits have a Bell state configuration and are encoded in photon polarization. The lower bounds are found by estimating the Shannon and von Neumann entropies at the output using an optimized basis, whose statistics is obtained by measuring only the three observables $\sigma_{x}\otimes\sigma_{x}$, $\sigma_{y}\otimes\sigma_{y}$ and $\sigma_{z}\otimes\sigma_{z}$.Comment: 5 pages and 3 figures in the principal article, and 4 pages in the supplementary materia

Characterizing the molecular and morphophysiological diversity of Italian red clover

Red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) is the third major forage species in Europe, but there is limited information on the biodiversity and the genetic structure of landraces and natural populations which evolved in this region. The objective of this study was producing such information for Italian germplasm on the ground of molecular and morphophysiological diversity. The study included 16 Italian natural populations from a wide range of environments, four landraces representing the four traditional commercial ecotypes, and two varieties. Eight morphophysiological traits were assessed in a replicated trial under field conditions, whereas two AFLPs primer combinations with 140 polymorphic markers were recorded on a random sample of 13 genotypes per population. Ordination and classification results based on morphophysiological data clearly kept track of the type of germplasm (i.e. landrace or natural population) and its geographic origin, unlike results based on molecular markers. Euclidean distances among populations based on morphophysiological traits were not correlated with Nei’s genetic distances based on molecular markers according to Mantel’s test. Geographical distances among landrace or natural population material was correlated with distances based on morphophysiological traits but not with those based on molecular markers. The average within-population variation stimated via molecular markers was about 2.6-fold higher than that among populations, preventing an acceptable discrimination among most populations. On average, natural populations tended to have within-population variation similar to varieties and somewhat lower than landraces. Our results have implications for collection, conservation, exploitation and registration in a sui generis system of red clover genetic resources.L’articolo è disponibile sul sito dell’editore http://www.springerlink.com

How Wind Turbines Alignment to Wind Direction Affects Efficiency? A Case Study through SCADA Data Mining

SCADA control systems are the keystone for reliable performance optimization of wind farms. Processing into knowledge the amount of information they spread is a challenging task, involving engineering, physics, statistics and computer science skills. The present work deals with the effects on the efficiency of turbine inability of optimal aligning to the wind direction, due to meandering wind caused by wakes. The approach is tested on a judiciously chosen cluster of turbines of a wind farm sited in southern Italy. By a post-processing method based on discretization of nacelle position measurements, a set of dominant patterns of the cluster is identified. The patterns associated to best performances are individuated and it is shown that they correspond to non-trivial alignment to wind direction

On the Possible Wind Energy Contribution for Feeding a High Altitude Smart Mini Grid

The use of renewable energy sources to increase electricity access, especially in remote areas as high mountains, is a possible contribution to poverty reduction, climate change mitigation and improved resilience. In this paper an evaluation of the wind potential of a remote area in Nepal is performed, using CFD methods and the simulation of a micro wind turbine projected by Perugia University. With an accurate analysis of wind data and air density effects it is possible to test energy production potential in areas with high average wind speed. The overall estimated production for each turbine is an interesting result and an easily exportable contribution to the perspective of sustainable development at very high altitudes and remote areas

Low elasticity of thyroid nodules at ultrasound elastography is correlated with malignancy, degree of fibrosis and high expression of galectin-3 and fibronectin-1

ackground: Thyroid ultrasound (US) elastography provides an estimation of tissue stiffness and is helpful to differentiate malignant from benign lesions. Tissue proprieties and molecules causing stiffness are not established. The aim of the study was to correlate US elastography findings with tissue properties in thyroid nodules. Methods: A total of 115 thyroid nodules from 112 patients who underwent surgery for the presence of Thy 3 (indeterminate) cytology (n = 67), Thy 4-5 (suspicious - indicative of carcinoma) cytology (n = 47), or large goiter in the presence of Thy 2 cytology (n = 1) and suspicious US features were examined by US elastography. Tissues obtained after surgery were characterized for cell number, microvessel density, fibrosis, and expression of galectin-3 (Gal-3) and fibronectin-1 (FN-1). Results: Low elasticity on qualitative US elastography (LoEl) was found in 66 nodules (one benign and 65 carcinomas); high elasticity (HiEl) was found in 49 nodules (46 benign and three carcinomas; p < 0.0001). Quantitative analysis, performed in 24 nodules and expressed as elastic ratio between the strain of the nodule and that of the surrounding thyroid parenchyma, showed a mean of 1.90 (interquartile range [IQR] 1.18-2.77) in 14 nodules with LoEl, and a mean of 1.01 (IQR 0.91-1.10) in 10 nodules with HiEl (p = 0.002). Stiffness did not correlate with cell number and was inversely correlated with microvessel density. Fibrosis was higher in nodules with LoEl than in those with HiEl (p = 0.009) and in carcinomas than in benign nodules (p = 0.02). Fibrosis was higher in nodules with high expression of Gal-3 (p < 0.001) and FN-1 (p = 0.004). Fibrosis and expression of Gal-3 and FN-1 were higher in the classic compared with the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma and lower in follicular adenomas. Conclusions: Low elasticity at US elastography is highly correlated with malignancy. Nodule stiffness is correlated with fibrosis and expression of Gal-3 and FN-1. These features are more evident in the classic than in the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma

Continuous monitoring of cerebral oxygen saturation in elderly patients undergoing major abdominal surgery minimizes brain exposure to potential hypoxia

to develop cerebral desaturation because of the reduced physiologic reserve that accompanies aging. To evaluate whether monitoring cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) minimizes intraoperative cerebral desaturation, we prospectively monitored rSO2 in 122 elderly patients undergoing major abdominal surgery with general anesthesia. Patients were randomly allocated to an intervention group (the monitor was visible and rSO2 was maintained at 75% of preinduction values; n 56) or a control group (the monitor was blinded and anesthesia was managed routinely; n 66). Cerebral desaturation (rSO2 reduction 75% of baseline) was observed in 11 patients of the treatment group (20%) and 15 patients of the control group (23%) (P 0.82). Mean (95% confidence intervals) values of mean rSO2 were higher (66% [64%–68%]) and the area under the curve below 75% of baseline (AUCrSO2275% of baseline) was lower (0.4 min% [0.1– 0.8 min%]) in patients of the treatment group than in patients of the control group (61% [59%–63%] and 80 min% [2–144 min%], respectively; P 0.002 and P 0.017). When considering only patients developing intraoperative cerebral desaturation, a lower Mini Mental State Elimination (MMSE) score was observed at the seventh postoperative day in the control group (26 [25–30]) than in the treatment group (28 [26 –30]) (P 0.02), with a significant correlation between the AUCrSO2 75% of baseline and postoperative decrease in MMSE score from preoperative values (r20.25, P0.01). Patients of the control group with intraoperative cerebral desaturation also experienced a longer time to postanesthesia care unit (PACU) discharge (47 min [13–56 min]) and longer hospital stay (24 days [7–53] days) compared with patients of the treatment group (25 min [15–35 min] and 10 days [7–23 days], respectively; P 0.01 and P 0.007). Using rSO2 monitoring to manage anesthesia in elderly patients undergoing major abdominal surgery reduces the potential exposure of the brain to hypoxia; this might be associated with decreased effects on cognitive function and shorter PACU and hospital stay

Systematic Review on S-ICD Lead Extraction

Background and purposeSubcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillators (S-ICDs) have emerged in recent years as a valid alternative to traditional transvenous ICDs (TV-ICDs). Therefore, the number of S-ICD implantations is rising, leading to a consequent increase in S-ICD-related complications sometimes requiring complete device removal. Thus, the aim of this systematic review is to gather all the available literature on S-ICD lead extraction (SLE), with particular reference to the type of indication, techniques, complications and success rate.MethodsStudies were identified by searching electronic databases (Medline via PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science) from inception to 21 November 2022. The search strategy adopted was developed using the following key words: subcutaneous, S-ICD, defibrillator, ICD, extraction, explantation. Studies were included if they met both of the following criteria: (1) inclusion of patients with S-ICD; (2) inclusion of patients who underwent SLE.ResultsOur literature search identified 238 references. Based on the abstract evaluation, 38 of these citations were considered potentially eligible for inclusion, and their full texts were analyzed. We excluded 8 of these studies because no SLE was performed. Eventually, 30 studies were included, with 207 patients who underwent SLE. Overall, the majority of SLEs were performed for non-infective causes (59.90%). Infection of the device (affecting either the lead or the pocket) was the cause of SLE in 38.65% of cases. Indication data were not available in 3/207 cases. The mean dwelling time was 14 months. SLEs were performed using manual traction or with the aid of a tool designed for transvenous lead extraction (TLE), including either a rotational or non-powered mechanical dilator sheath.ConclusionsSLE is performed mainly for non-infective causes. Techniques vary greatly across different studies. Dedicated tools for SLE might be developed in the future and standard approaches should be defined. In the meantime, authors are encouraged to share their experience and data to further refine the existing variegated approaches