Urban air pollution monitoring and correlation properties between fixed-site stations

The rich regional air-monitoring network of the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy has been used to quantify the spatial variability of the main pollutants within urban environments and to analyze the correlations between stations. The spatial variability of the concentrations of the majority of pollutants within the city was very high, making it difficult to differentiate and characterize the urban environments and to apply legal limits with uniform criteria. On the other hand, the correlations between the fixed-site monitoring stations were high enough for their data to be retained generally very appropriately for controlling temporal trends. Starting from the high correlation level, a procedure was proposed and tested to derive pollution levels, using short-term measurements, such as passive samplers and mobile-station data. The importance of long-term statistics in urban air pollution mapping was emphasized. Treatment of missing data in time series and quality assurance were indicated as possible fields for applications for the correlation properties.     

Effects of copper on Sambucus nigra L. seedlings studied by electron paramagnetic resonance and atomic absorption spectroscopies

We present in this work preliminary results on the translocation of copper, manganese and iron from soil to leaves of Sambucus nigra L. seedlings in the presence of increasing copper concentrations in the growth medium. The use of electron spin resonance spectroscopy and the comparison with atomic absorption spectroscopy is not presently common in the study of metal absorption in plants. This approach gave promising results both on the detection of some metal ions, as well as of radical species related to the presence of Cu2+ in plant tissues. Copper was found to act synergistically in manganese uptake.     

Ozone differentially affects physiological and biochemical responses of two clover species; Trifolium repens and Trifolium pratense

The effect of acute ozone exposure (150 ppb for 3 h) on two clover species, white clover (Trifolium repens L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) was investigated through the analysis of 10 different physiological and biochemical parameters. Twenty-four hours after fumigation, visible symptoms of injury on leaves were observed only in red clover, but from the biochemical point of view, both species revealed significant ozone-induced modifications. A decrease in the photosynthetic efficiency as well as an increase in the de-epoxidation index and a decrease in the redox state of ascorbate were detected only in T. pratense leaves; no significant change in pigment content was found in either of the two species. On the other hand, both white and red clover showed, although to different extents, significant decreases in the activities of the antioxidant enzymes peroxidase and ascorbate peroxidase. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed not only that ozone affects both species, but also that they differentially respond to the pollutant, confirming the higher sensitivity of Trifolium pratense to ozone exposure.     

Safety Assurance of Foods: Risk Management Depends on Good Science but it is not a Scientific Activity

We make many decisions in our livesand we weigh the benefits against thedrawbacks. Our decisions are based on whatbenefits are most important to us and whatdrawbacks we are willing to accept. Decisionsabout what we eat are made in the same way; butwhen it comes to safety, our decisions areusually made more carefully. Food containsnatural chemicals and it can come into contactwith many natural and artificial substancesduring harvest, production, processing, andpreparation. They include microorganisms,chemicals, either naturally present or producedby cooking, environmental contaminants, andpesticides. Since the chance of being harmed bythese potential hazards is called risk, riskanalysis might be better termed as the scienceof safety, because risk management is anessential part of it. It would, however, bedifficult and shortsighted to maintain thatquestions about risk and safety can have nomoral dimension. Risk and safety become mattersof moral concern when they raise furtherquestions about responsibility, accountability,and justifiability. The question of risk cannotbe ignored in any ethical investigation ofgenetic engineering, novel foods, animalwelfare, and individual choices. However, foodis more than metabolic fuel. It hasphysiological, psychological, social, cultural,and aesthetic associations that merge to form agestalt that people endanger and maintain. Thecontribution of any food towards anindividual's well being is as complex as theindividual himself. In this context, thebenefits of consuming food that containshazards may outweigh the risk.     

Historical and Geological Evidence for Seismic Origin of Newly Recognized Landslides in Southeastern Sicily, and Its Significance inTerms of Hazard

Old, large, and dormant landslides were unexpectedly found in southeastern Sicily, a territory of known seismicity but commonly considered as landslide-free or almost so. Purposely undertaken investigations revealed that: (1) these landslides are scarcely compatible with the local geoclimatic environment; (2) they usually show low-angle basal shear surfaces, despite the fact that the properties of the forming material are generally good; (3) they fulfill the known relationships between earthquake magnitude and epicenter–landslide distance; (4) sources coeval with high-energy historical earthquakes occurred in 1169, 1542 and 1693 testify to the occurrence of earthquake-triggered landsliding; and (5) documentary material (presented here for the first time) correlates with certainty a specific landslide to the 1693 earthquake. This geological and historical evidence, accompanied by the absence of contrasting elements, leads us to conclude that these landslides are earthquake-triggered. Because of their typological and geometrical characteristics, nearly all landslides can be reactivated, which has serious implications in terms of hazard, particularly with respect to lines of communication. Obviously, every action aimed at preventing or mitigating risks must start from the awareness of the causative processes, a condition substantially unsatisfied at the moment in SE Sicily. The paper concludes by emphasizing the opportunity not to trust excessively beliefs that, although shared, have never been really checked.     

Identification and Genotyping of Human Sapoviruses Collected from Sewage Water in Naples and Palermo, Italy, in 2011

Human sapoviruses were identified in 15 (12.4 %) of 121 inlet sewage samples collected from wastewater treatment plants in Naples and Palermo, Italy, in 2011. All strains, except one GI.1, were genotyped as GI.2 by sequencing a capsid gene fragment. This is the first detection of sapovirus in wastewaters in Italy.     

Socioeconomic spillovers of the 2016–2017 Italian earthquakes: a bi-regional inoperability model

Environment, Development and Sustainability - In August and October 2016, and January 2017, Central Italy was shaken by four strong earthquakes followed by other earthquake swarms. These disruptive...     

Augmenting Small Populations of Plovers: An Assessment of Cross-Fostering and Captive-Rearing

This study compared the growth and behavioral development of parent-reared, cross-fostered, and captive-reared Killdeer ( Charadrius vociferus ) chicks. Common species were used to test these techniques for possible application to rare endangered forms. Parent-reared chicks were raised naturally in the wild, cross-fostered chicks were raised by Spotted Sandpipers ( Actitis macularia ) in the wild, and captive-reared chicks were raised in captivity by humans. Both hatching and fledging success were significantly increased by captive-rearing, and cross-fostering produced approximately the same number of fledged young as natural parent-rearing. Captive-reared Killdeer chicks spent more time resting and less time feeding and stayed closer to siblings than cross-fostered or parent-reared chicks; these behavioral differences were not seen after release to the wild. Growth rates among the three groups were similar. All of the young Killdeer responded to Killdeer alarm calls. There was no evidence that captive-reared and cross-fostered Killdeer were negatively affected by their early experiences. Captive-rearing is a viable management technique for augmenting small populations of endangered shorebirds, such as the Piping Plover ( Charadrius melodus ). It is recommended over cross-fostering because captive-rearing is more flexible as a technique, produces more young, does not affect another species, and does not produce potential imprinting problems.     

A biological and geochemical integrated approach to assess the environmental quality of a coastal lagoon (Ravenna, Italy)

The assessment of the environmental quality of coastal lagoons is rather difficult as their intrinsic high variability limits the power of analytical chemistry and ecotoxicological approaches. Aim of the present work was to integrate geochemical and biological data which were simultaneously collected from the Pialassa Baiona lagoon (Ravenna, Italy), and evaluate the usefulness of a biomonitoring strategy based on sentinel organisms and biomarkers. Geochemical analysis on suspended, surface, and subsurface sediments were performed at five different sites of the lagoon; moreover the heavy metal bioaccumulation and a battery of biomarkers was evaluated in Mytilus galloprovincialis transplanted in the same sites. Heavy metals appeared to be diffused throughout the lagoon reaching higher levels in the southernmost sites, and mainly concentrated in suspended sediments. Lysosome membrane stability, neutral lipid and lipofuscin accumulation, and metallothionein levels in mussels indicated the development of a stress syndrome in animals exposed to the polluted sites.