854 research outputs found
Soccer pitches performances as affected by construction method, sand type and turfgrass mixture
During winter, soil compaction and slow turf recovery are the main causes
for loss of soccer pitch quality. Sandy materials are commonly used to reduce
compaction and improve drainage. Internally porous volcanic sand can provide
better growing conditions than silica sand due to higher water holding capacity and
nutrient retention. Festuca arundinacea is well adapted to Italian climatic conditions
and its increased use could improve the quality of sports fields in the Mediterranean
area. In a field trial six construction methods, two sandy materials and two coolseason
turfgrass mixtures were compared under simulated winter usage. Results
showed a progressive increase in ground cover and water infiltration rate according
to the following ranking in the complexity of the design: undrained native soil -
drainage systems - sand based profile. Soil amendment was not effective in
improving drainage. Higher values of ground cover were observed for the mixture
containing tall fescue. Good playing quality was recorded for each of the
construction method, sand type and turfgrass mixture. Porous sand produced a
lower bulk density in the top layer of the rootzone. Festuca arundinacea and porous
sand appear as promising tools in sport fields constructio
Social and digital vulnerabilities: The role of participatory processes in the reconfiguration of urban and digital space
In the Italian context, political and social participation in the urban
dimension has experienced innovations to broaden the inclusion of citizens
in public choices relating to citylife and to urban renovation. Participation
found in the city a relevant space to experiment with innovation in the
relationship between institutions and citizens, many initiatives advanced
and developed over the years have had a powerful lever in technology:
participatory budgets, consultations, public-private-non-profit partnerships. In
other cases, specifically in peripheral realities, urban innovation has turned
out to be detached from digital infrastructures and has benefited, rather,
from the social infrastructures in the area. Civic committees, community
foundations, collaboration agreements between citizens and authorities,
and local community development experiences developed in peripheral
contexts. Regenerating urban spaces is a political objective proposed with
increasing emphasis by institutional bodies at the various levels of governance.
Environmental, economic, social and urban planning intersect and overlap
and often projects related to urban planning âon paperâ prevail over issues
related to urban communities âon territoriesâ. Without adequate processes of
participation and subjectivity of citizens living in urban contexts, no model of
âurban renaissanceâ appears fully deployed, resulting in participatory processes
thatâat bestâonly allow for access logics in a neoliberal perspective. Through
a qualitative methodology, the paper aims at presenting and investigating
six case studies in major Italian cities (Rome, Naples, Milan, Turin, Florence,
Reggio Calabria), in which democratic innovation and experimentation in
civic engagement spread from the digital capital of citizens and the social
organizations of the peripheral territory, with its specificities and its problems.
In particular, the objective of the paper is to discuss and problematise the
processes of participation involving and featuring vulnerable people within
the reconfiguration of urban and digital spaces. Following Sutton and Kempâs
approach, we consider the relationship between urban spaces and marginal
communities as central to a one-to-one relationship, fostering processes of
urban inclusion. Combining participatory processes in liminal marginalized communities with an institutional push toward holistic urban regeneration
may develop opportunities for active citizenship, overcoming the neoliberal
paradigm of the city
Arsenic-resistant bacteria isolated from contaminated sediments of the Orbetello Lagoon, Italy, and their characterization
AIMS: The aim of this study was to isolate arsenic-resistant bacteria from contaminated sediment of the Orbetello Lagoon, Italy, to characterize isolates for As(III), As(V), heavy metals resistance, and from the phylogenetic point of view. METHODS AND RESULTS: Enrichment cultures were carried out in the presence of 6.75 mmol l(-1) of As(III), allowing isolation of ten bacterial strains. Four isolates, ORAs1, ORAs2, ORAs5 and ORAs6, showed minimum inhibitory concentration values equal or superior to 16.68 mmol l(-1) and 133.47 mmol l(-1) in the presence of As(III) and As(V), respectively. Isolate ORAs2 showed values of 1.8 mmol l(-1) in the presence of Cd(II) and 7.7 mmol l(-1) of Zn(II), and isolate ORAs1 pointed out a value of 8.0 mmol l(-1) in the presence of Cu(II). Analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that they can be grouped in the three genera Aeromonas, Bacillus and Pseudomonas. Phylogenetic analysis of the four more arsenic-resistant strains was also performed. CONCLUSION: Isolates are highly resistant to both As(III) and As(V) and they could represent good candidates for bioremediation processes of native polluted sediments. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: This study provides original results on levels of resistance to arsenic and to assigning genera of bacterial strains isolated from arsenic-polluted sediments
Robotic mowing of tall fescue at 90 mm cutting height: random trajectories vs. systematic trajectories
Tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus (Schreb.) Dumort.) is often managed with a cutting height ranging from 70 to 100 mm in ornamental lawns. Some autonomous mowers have been specifically designed to maintain mowing height in the same range. Generally, autonomous mowers operate by following random trajectories, and substantial overlapping is needed to obtain full coverage of the working area. In the case of tall grass, this may cause lodging of grass plants, which in turn may reduce turf quality. The introduction of a navigation system based on systematic
trajectories has the potential to improve the performances of autonomous mowers with respect to machine efficiency and turf quality. With the aim of determining the effects of reduced mowing frequency and systematic navigation systems on turf quality and mower performances in terms of working time, energy consumption and overlapping, the performances of two autonomous mowers working with random and systematic trajectories were tested on a mature tall fescue lawn at 90 mm cutting height. The working efficiency was approximately 80% for the systematic trajectories and approximately 35% for the random trajectories; this was mainly due to the lower overlapping associated with systematic trajectories. Turf quality was slightly higher for the mower working systematically (a score of 8 using a 1â9 score with 1 = poor, 6 = acceptable and 9 = best) compared to the one working randomly (quality of 7 and 6 on a 1â9 scale with 1 = poor and 9 = best). No appreciable lodging was observed in either case. For tall, managed lawns, systematic trajectories may improve autonomous mowersâ overall performances
Two naphthalene degrading bacteria belonging to the genera Paenibacillus and Pseudomonas isolated from a highly polluted lagoon perform different sensitivities to the organic and heavy metal contaminants
Two bacterial strains were isolated in the presence of naphthalene as the sole carbon and energy source from sediments of the Orbetello Lagoon, Italy, which is highly contaminated with both organic compounds and metals. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis of the two isolates assigned the strains to the genera Paenibacillus and Pseudomonas. The effect of different contaminants on the growth behaviors of the two strains was investigated. Pseudomonas sp. ORNaP2 showed a higher tolerance to benzene, toluene, and ethylbenzene than Paenibacillus sp. ORNaP1. In addition, the toxicity of heavy metals potentially present as co-pollutants in the investigated site was tested. Here, strain Paenibacillus sp. ORNaP1 showed a higher tolerance towards arsenic, cadmium, and lead, whereas it was far more sensitive towards mercury than strain Pseudomonas sp. ORNaP2. These differences between the Gram-negative Pseudomonas and the Gram-positive Paenibacillus strain can be explained by different general adaptive response systems present in the two bacteria
Autonomous Mowing and Complete Floor Cover for Weed Control in Vineyards
Enhancing vineyards sustainability and reducing herbicides usage is a crucial theme, thus
alternative weed management methods are starting to be studied. Cover crops have been shown to
provide for several environmental services such as performing an efficient weed control and promoting
biodiversity, thus improving the sustainability of the overall management system. However, the
use of cover crops is usually confined to the interrow area in order to avoid competition with vines.
Under-trellis weed management in vineyards is an important challenge, conventionally fulfilled
by cultivation or repeated herbicides applications. Autonomous mowers are small autonomous
machines that have shown a great efficiency when employed in agricultural contexts. Due to their
reduced size, they can easily prevent the excessive vertical growth of weeds both in the interrows
and under trellis without the use of chemical applications. The aim of this trial was to evaluate if the
combination of cover crop species and autonomous mowers management could improve vineyard
sustainability. Vineyard floor cover that was managed with an autonomous mower had a shorter
canopy height and a lower weed dry biomass compared to the conventionally managed vineyard
floor cover. Vineyard floor management providing cover crops and autonomous mowing had a
significantly lower weed cover percentage compared to conventional floor management, especially
under-trellis. The results of this trial suggest that the combination of cover crops and autonomous
mowers may be a sustainable and reliable technique to include in vineyards floor management
Effects of water stress on spectral reflectance of bermudagrass
In the south-central Italy, during summer rainfall does not supply a sufficient amount of water. Therefore, irrigation management during dry periods is important for maintaining turf quality. The hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Ă Cynodon transvaalensis BurttâDavy) is known to represent the dominant warm-season turfgrass in warm to temperate climatic regions and its drought tolerance make bermudagrass a competitive turfgrass. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using uniform cores of hybrid bermudagrass, which were secured in a polyvinyl chloride cylinders and watered by constant sub-irrigation. The objectives of the present research were to measure the spectral reflectance with a new generation handheld spectroradiometer on hybrid bermudagrass and to explore various vegetation indices to be used as future detecting tool to study water stress in bermudagrass. Moreover, the potential uses of multivariate processing techniques for discriminating different water stress conditions in turfgrass has been investigated. Besides spectral indices, multivariate methods, although performed on a data set limited in terms of sample size, have shown a great potential for water stress monitoring in turfgrass and surely deserve further investigations. There are different indices that use distinct water absorption features independent of chlorophyll concentration, such as water index (WI = R900/R970) that has been reported to be a robust index of canopy water content and is used as an active indicator of changes in Leaf Relative Water Content (LRWC). Also, the ratio of WI with NDVI (WI/NDVI = (R900/R970)/((R800 â R680)/(R800 + R680)]) was found to be an effective indicator of water stress. Another vegetation index to detect water features is normalized difference water index (NDWI), designed to maximize reflectance of water by using green wavelengths. In our trial in bermudagrass the relationships studied, suggest that WI (900/970) and WI/NDVI, among the indices studied, are the more effective indicators of water stress. In fact, lower values of WI indicate higher water stress, while higher values of WI/NDVI indicate higher water stress levels
Growing degree-days optimize trinexapac-ethyl reapplications on ultradwarf bermudagrass putting greens: II. Testing a reapplication schedule
Trinexapac-ethyl (TE) is commonly applied to ultradwarf bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. Ă C. transvaalensis Burtt-Davy] putting greens for growth suppression and secondary benefits. Improperly timed reapplications will reduce the benefits of TE, but knowing when to reapply is difficult because suppression duration is affected by environmental conditions, especially temperature. In another experiment we determined that GDD with a base temperature of 0 °C (GDD0) was the most precise unit for predicting the maximum suppression point (MSP) after a TE application on a âMiniVerdeâ ultradwarf bermudagrass putting green. The model suggested that the MSP occurred at 262 GDD0 after the TE application. The objective of this second experiment was to test GDD0 reapplication intervals for an extended period of time. We included four GDD0 intervals (100, 200, 400, and 600) and two TE rates (0.022 and 0.044 kg a.i. haâ1). We hypothesized that reapplying TE before the MSP would result in a consistent suppression magnitude from day to day (i.e., consistent daily growth), which should be an ideal growth pattern for turfgrass managers. The 100- and 200-GDD0 intervals yielded consistent suppression magnitude throughout the experiment, and suppression magnitude increased with the higher TE rate. In contrast, the 400- and 600-GDD0 intervals allowed fluctuation in suppression magnitude from day to day. Discoloration occurred after initial applications and was more severe for the higher TE rate
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