Soil Compaction and Recovery after Mechanized Final Felling of Italian Coastal Pine Plantations

This study gauged the severity and permanence of soil compaction associated with mechanized clear felling of umbrella pine plantations. We tested three treatments: not harvested, harvested one year earlier and harvested six years earlier. Each treatment was replicated eight times in randomly distributed 0.5 ha plots, on the same soil type. Soil compaction was assessed by gauging soil bulk density, penetration resistance, deflection under impact and CO2 concentration. These parameters were measured with steel rings, penetrometer, deflectometer and soil air analyzer, respectively. Measurements were conducted on 8 clear cut blocks per treatment, which had been randomly distributed over the same forest, with identical soil and stand type. One year after clear fell, bulk density increased by 9%, penetration resistance by 50% and deflection by 60%. Porosity decreased by 10%, which entailed a parallel 30% increase of both soil moisture content and CO concentration in the soil air. Six years after clear fell, there was no sign of recovery for bulk density, deflection and moisture content. On the contrary, penetration resistance was significantly reduced, and CO2 concentration was back to the values recorded in plots that had not been harvested

Carta abierta condenando la crisis en curso y abordando los impactos ambientales y humanitarios en Palestina

Nosotres, biólogues, ecologistas y otres profesionales dedicados a proteger la vida, les escribimos con una solicitud urgente. Les pedimos muy comedidamente que su organización o institución emita un comunicado oficial condenando la crisis en curso y abordando los impactos ambientales y humanitarios en Palestina

Low-Investment Fully Mechanized Harvesting of Short-Rotation Poplar (populus spp.) Plantations

European short-rotation poplar plantations are harvested at 5–8 year rotations and produce relatively small stems (0.05–0.10 m3), which represent a major challenge when designing a cost-effective harvesting chain. Until now, the challenge has been met through whole-tree chipping, which allows mass-handling all through the harvesting chain. However, the production of higher value logs for the panel industry requires devising different solutions. This study presents a fully mechanized low-investment system using an excavator-based feller-buncher shear, a grapple skidder obtained from the conversion of a common farm tractor and an excavator-mounted grapple saw adapted to work as a makeshift slasher. The system was tested in Northwestern Italy, achieving high productivity (between 14 and 20 t fresh weight per scheduled machine hour) and low harvesting cost (between 9 and 14 € t−1 fresh weight). However, crosscutting quality needs further improvement, because almost 50% of the logs did not meet factory specifications. Solutions to solve this issue are proposed. The tested system is suitable for local small-scale operators because it can be acquired with a reasonable capital investment (400,000 €) and it is versatile enough for use in a number of alternative jobs, when the coppice harvesting season is over

A low-investment option for the integrated semi-mechanized harvesting of small-scale, short-rotation Poplar plantations

In recent years, industrial roundwood production has enjoyed a steady success due to the development of a new bioeconomy and the rapid structural changes of the wood market. A very promising new solution for industrial fiber crops is the integrated production of logs and biomass in short rotation poplar plantations. In Europe, the expansion of these crops is concentrated in the Eastern regions, where contractors face strict limitations in their capital availability: hence the interest in developing semi-mechanized, low-investment harvesting systems based on general-purpose equipment that may serve as a stop-gap solution to assist the transition to fully mechanized systems. This study focused on designing and testing such a system, based on two low-cost machines (an excavator with a grapple saw and a second-hand forwarder) and requiring a minimum workforce (two operators only). The system was tested for productivity, cost and work quality, under two variants: production of 2 or 4 m logs. This system can produce approximately 3 loads (90 t) per day, at a cost between 14.5 and 16 % t%1, from stump to roadside landing, ready for loading and transportation. The 4 m log variant was more efficient, resulting in a 10% cost reduction around 1.5 % t%1. However, log yield was relatively low: between 1/3 and 1/4 of the total harvest, the balance consisting of lower-value biomass. The 2 m log treatment offered a higher log yield. The introduction of simple technology may allow increasing log yield and should be the subject of future research

L’azione degli Orti botanici per l’introduzione di piante utili o scientificamente importanti

The Botanical Gardens have always played a central role in the transfer of plants, aimed, among other objectives, to scientific research and economic use. On this issue the Botanical Gardens of Florence, Meise (Belgium) and Madrid thanks to a European Partnership, as part of the Lifelong Learning Programme, aimed at creating new educational tools in the field of botanical.  The three Botanical Gardens, so different for origine, history, location, have found in the history of the scientific expeditions of their home countries, the matter common to build, each in its own reality, a self-guided trail. The attention has been focused on plants which are sgnificant for the scientific research and for economic use, introduced in Europe from the eighteenth century till to the present day.  The plants chosen from the three gardens - including Amorphophallus titanum and some species within the genus Coffea, Dahlia and Passiflora - represent the link who joins the history of explorations and the new challenges that the Botanical Gardens facing in the complex modern reality

The effect of cutting technique on the mortality and re-sprouting vigor of poplar stumps in short-rotation plantations

Mechanical felling is the cost-effective solution for harvesting short-rotation poplar plantations, but the damage inflicted by conventional shear cutting devices on tree stumps has raised concerns about stump mortality and re-sprouting vigor - both crucial to coppice regeneration. In order to determine if such concerns are justified, the experiment monitored the survival and resprouting vigor of eleven sample blocks, composed of two 10-stump row segments cut according to either of two methods: 1) lternately with a chainsaw (control) or 2) and with an excavator-mounted shear. The sample blocks were located within the same plantation, established 7 years earlier with hybrid poplars (Populus nigra x P. deltoides), belonging to the "AF8" clone. One year after cutting, no differences were found between treatments in terms of stump mortality, number of shoots per stump, shoot diameter at 30 cm from the insertion and shoot height. These results support the use of mechanical shears to fell short-rotation poplar coppice. However, further studies should be conducted on multiple fields and clones for a safe generalization of this preliminary study.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author

NUOVI MARKERS DI DANNO MIOCARDICO: DOLORE TORACICO E COPEPTINA

ABSTRACT Chest pain is one of the most common cause for Emergency Department (ED) visits. Nowadays the diagnostic gold standard for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is Troponin T but its delayed release reduces the diagnostic sensibility in the early ischemic time. Copeptin, a biomarker associated with endovascular stress regulation, has been studied in various cardiovascular events. The aim of this study is to analyse the diagnostic/prognostic value of copeptin in myocardial infarction patients admitted to ED for chest pain to obtain a careful rule out of AMI. 90 consecutive patients admitted for chest pain were studied. Inclusions criteria were Chest Pain Score > 4 and negative electrocardiography for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) according to the European Society of Cardiology Guidelines 2009. Copeptin was evaluated at the ED presentation. 50 patients were discharged after AMI exclusion with negative copeptin and troponin. 40 patients were admitted, 18 of them had myocardial infarction, 12 had positive copeptin with negative troponin and myoglobin values. The overall copeptin sensibility in the infarcted patients was 69,4%, increasing to 77,7% adding troponin T, with a negative predictive value of 78%. Upon multiple regression frame copeptin appears to be an independent predictor factor of number of vessels involved in ACS (p<0,006). Copeptin blood level risen early in infarcted patients has a good sensibility; the combination with troponin T improved the diagnostic performance of these two biomarkers in AMI patients. Copeptin could be used also as a prognostic factor of myocardial damage because of its correlation with coronary involvement