scholarly journals Uncovering the Role of Biophysical Factors and Socioeconomic Forces Shaping Soil Sensitivity to Degradation: Insights from Italy

Soil Systems ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
Filippo Gambella ◽  
Andrea Colantoni ◽  
Gianluca Egidi ◽  
Nathan Morrow ◽  
Marcela Prokopová ◽  
...  

Following an operational framework derived from earlier research, our study research estimates the specific contribution of biophysical and socioeconomic factors to soil sensitivity to degradation at two-time points (Early-1990s and Early-2010s) in Italy, a Mediterranean hotspot for desertification risk. A total of 34 variables associated (directly or, at least, indirectly) with different processes of soil degradation (erosion, salinization, sealing, contamination, and compaction) and climate change were considered here, delineating the predominant (underlying) cause (i.e., biophysical or socioeconomic). This set of variables represented the largest (quantitative) information available from national and international data sources including official statistics at both national and European scale. Contribution of biophysical and socioeconomic dimensions to soil sensitivity to degradation was heterogeneous in Italy, with the level of soil sensitivity to biophysical factors being the highest in less accessible, natural areas mostly located in hilly and mountainous districts. The highest level of soil sensitivity to socioeconomic drivers was instead observed in more accessible locations around large cities and flat rural districts with crop intensification and low (but increasing) population density. All these factors delineated an enlarged divide in environmental quality between (i) flat and upland districts, and between (ii) Northern and Southern Italian regions. These findings suggest the appropriateness of policy strategies protecting soils with a strong place-specific knowledge, i.e., based on permanent monitoring of local (biophysical and socioeconomic) conditions.

Author(s):  
Tina Iachini ◽  
Francesca Frassinetti ◽  
Francesco Ruotolo ◽  
Filomena Leonela Sbordone ◽  
Antonella Ferrara ◽  
...  

Interpersonal space (IPS) is the area surrounding our own bodies in which we interact comfortably with other individuals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping larger IPS than usual, along with wearing a face mask, is one of the most effective measures to slow down the COVID-19 outbreak. Here, we explore the contribution of actual and perceived risk of contagion and anxiety levels in regulating our preferred social distance from other people during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. In this study, 1293 individuals from six Italian regions with different levels of actual risk of infection participated in an online survey assessing their perceived risk to be infected, level of anxiety and IPS. Two tasks were adopted as measures of interpersonal distance: the Interpersonal Visual Analogue Scale and a questionnaire evaluating interpersonal distance with and without face mask. The results showed that the IPS regulation was affected by how people subjectively perceived COVID-19 risk and the related level of anxiety, not by actual objective risk. This clarifies that the role of threat in prompting avoidant behaviors expressed in increased IPS does not merely reflect environmental events but rather how they are subjectively experienced and represented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (2) ◽  
pp. 003685042199848
Author(s):  
Antonio Minni ◽  
Francesco Pilolli ◽  
Massimo Ralli ◽  
Niccolò Mevio ◽  
Luca Roncoroni ◽  
...  

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic had a significant impact on the Italian healthcare system, although geographical differences were present; regions in northern Italy have been the most severely affected while regions in the south of the country were relatively spared. Otolaryngologists were actively involved in the management of the pandemic. In this work, we analyzed and compared the otolaryngology surgical activity performed during the pandemic in two large public hospitals located in different Italian regions. In northern Italy, otolaryngologists were mainly involved in performing surgical tracheotomies in COVID-19 positive patients and contributed to the management of these patients in intensive care units. In central Italy, where the burden of the infection was significantly lower, otolaryngologists focused on diagnosis and treatment of emergency and oncology patients. This analysis confirms the important role of the otolaryngology specialists during the pandemic, but also highlights specific differences between two large hospitals in different Italian regions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (02) ◽  
pp. 417-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brianna Remster ◽  
Rory Kramer

AbstractWhile prisoners cannot vote, they are counted as residents of the often rural legislative districts where they are incarcerated rather than their home districts. We examine the extent to which incarceration shifts the balance of a representative democracy by considering its impact on legislative apportionment. Drawing on data from the Census, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and Pennsylvania Redistricting Commission, we develop a counterfactual framework to examine whether removing and returning prisoners to their home districts affects equal representation. Because prisoners are disproportionately African American, we also employ this counterfactual to assess racial differences in the impact of prison gerrymandering. Findings indicate that incarceration shifts political power from urban districts to suburban and rural districts through legislative apportionment. Moreover, non-White communities suffer the most. We conclude by considering how our findings fit a growing literature on the role of mass incarceration in [re]producing racial inequalities in the contemporary United States.


1987 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 687-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
K O'Connor

Services that link buyer and seller across nations and continents have long been a part of city and port development, but have not attracted much research interest, perhaps because they remain (like their statistical record) ‘invisible’. Technical and structural change in the organisation of shipping, reflected largely in containerisation, have changed the context for these services and they have responded in a variety of ways. Data in this paper trace the location of a selection of these services in the USA and Australia, indicating a separation between services and negotiations on aspects of trade services, and new patterns of physical activity in trade. It is suggested that this separation may be facilitated by the standardisation that has come with containerisation, the importance of intercorporate linkages, the role of official markets, and the application of modern communication technology. These aspects account for the clustering of services in large cities and their separation from day-to-day trade business, and could provide insights for producer-service location in general. The paper indicates the need for survey work to test these ideas.


2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 213-224
Author(s):  
Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė ◽  
Vilma Karvelytė-Balbierienė

Rural areas cover the largest part of the territory of Lithuania as well as that of the whole Europe. Rural settlements are also the most abundant category in the settlement system of the country. Therefore, their social, economic, and cultural viability- as well as ecologic sustainability playan important role striving towards the goals of sustainable development. During the last years projects promoting various aspects of sustainability are implemented not only in large cities and towns, but also in smaller municipalities, nevertheless many rural settlements still are not influenced by these trends. The tendency of decrease of the population of the country, emigration, migration of young and qualified persons to larger cities and towns, poverty and unemployment cause the threat to the most fragile elements of the rural settlement system, such as steadings, manor residencies and ethnographic village settlements. In order to stop these processes it is necessary to search for means to sustain the social and economic viability of rural settlements. During the last decade significant role of cultural heritage in implementing strategies of sustainable development was universally recognized. It is acknowledged that sustainable preservation, maintenance, and use of cultural heritage, especially immovable, positively influence the social, economic, cultural and even environmental dimensions of sustainable development. Sustainable development opportunities provided by immovable cultural heritage are essential for small rural settlements which are not distinguished by important natural resources or favorable location. In this instance social and cultural viability is as much essential for preservation of immovable cultural heritage of these settlements, as immovable cultural heritage is essential for sustention of their social and economic viability. Nekilnojamojo kultūros paveldo įtaka darniam kaimo gyvenamųjų vietovių vystymuisi Santrauka Didžiąją Lietuvos, kaip ir visos Europos, teritorijos dalį sudaro kaimo vietovės, o didžiąją dalį gyvenamųjų vietovių – kaimo gyvenamosios vietovės, taigi jų socialinis, eko nominis ir kultūrinis gyvybingumas bei eko loginis tvarumas atlieka lemiamą vaidmenį siekiant šalies darnaus vystymosi tikslų. Pastaraisiais metais darnų vystymąsi skatinantys projektai jau įgyvendinami ne tik didžiuosiuose Lietuvos miestuose, bet ir mažesnėse savivaldybėse, tačiau daugelio kaimo gyvenamųjų vietovių šis procesas kol kas nepaliečia. Bendro šalies gyventojų skaičiaus mažėjimo tendencija, emigracija, jaunų ir kvalifikuo tų žmonių migracija į didžiuosius šalies miestus, skurdas ir nedarbo grėsmė kelia sunykimo grėsmę patiems jautriausiems ir kultūriniu požiūriu vertingiausiems šalies kaimo gyvenamųjų vietovių sistemos elementams, tokiems kaip vienkieminės sodybos, buvusių dvarų ir palivarkų sodybos ar etnografinės kaimų gyvenvietės. Siekiant sustabdyti šiuos neigiamus socialinius, eko nominius bei kultūriniu procesus, būtina ieškoti būdų, kaip užtikrinti kaimo gyvenamųjų vietovių socialinį bei eko nominį gyvybingumą. Pastaraisiais metais pasaulyje vis aiškiau suvokiamas kultūros paveldo vaidmuo darnaus vystymosi kontekste. Visuotinai pripažįstama, jog kultūros paveldo, ypač nekilnojamojo, apsauga, priežiūra bei naudojimas turi teigiamos įtakos darniam vystymuisi socialinėje, eko nominėje, kultūrinėje ir kt. dimensijose. Nekilnojamojo kultūros paveldo teikiamos darnaus vystymosi galimybės itin reikšmingos nedidelėms, išskirtinių gamtinių išteklių neturinčioms bei patogia geografine padėtimi nepasižyminčioms kaimo gyvenamosioms vietovėms. Jų socialinis ir eko nominis gyvybingumas kultūros paveldui išsaugoti yra toks pats svarbus, kaip ir kultūros paveldas socialinio ir eko nominio šių gyvenamųjų vietovių gyvybingumo palaikymu.


1993 ◽  
Vol 14 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 146-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra H. Utt ◽  
Steve Pasternack

Creative vision has been joined by technological capability to generate a surge in the number and variety of graphic devices on newspaper pages. And this has been accompanied by an expansion in the role of graphic departments.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9388
Author(s):  
Emilio Chiodo ◽  
Luigi Giordano ◽  
Jody Tubi ◽  
Rita Salvatore

This paper is aimed at investigating wine companies’ perceptions and attitudes towards the role of wine routes as an actual tool to improve their tourist attractiveness and sustainable tourism on a territorial level. Through a comparative approach, some wineries from the Italian regions of Abruzzo and Tuscany have been surveyed and in-depth-interviews to key local stakeholders have been conducted. The aim of the survey is to investigate the companies’ perception about wine tourists’ characteristics and wine route management. Through a multivariate analysis, the reasons behind wineries’ satisfaction/discontent have been analyzed. The findings identify a close relation between the complexity of the services offered, the companies’ involvement in the wine routes management and their satisfaction about the results obtained. The more complex the services are, the more satisfied the companies. The comparative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses pointed out by the wineries’ keepers has allowed some general considerations about the tools to use for the improvement of wine routes management. In a broader sense, the wineries’ direct involvement both in investment and in governance appears to be key in the success of the routes as a model for local tourism development.


1998 ◽  
Vol 84 (5) ◽  
pp. 562-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Comandone ◽  
Roberto Berardo ◽  
Roberto Faggiuolo ◽  
Antonella Boglione ◽  
Paola Bergnolo ◽  
...  

Aims and background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most important health problems in Western countries: it is the fourth cancer in terms of incidence and the second cause of cancer death. Surgery is the main therapeutic choice and there is broad consensus on the role of adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) after resection. Unfortunately, 50% of the patients will relapse and die of the disease. Palliative CT based on 5-fluorouracil (5FU) may induce a 9-48% response rate with a median survival of 11.5 months. At present there is no gold standard for CT in advanced CRC and the situation has become more complicated since the advent of new drugs (Raltitrexed, Irinotecan, Oxaliplatin). The aim of this study was the identification of the different approaches to treatment of advanced CRC among the clinicians (oncologists, radiologists, internal medicine specialists, surgeons) who practice CT. Methods and study design Forty-six clinicians from two Italian Regions (Piemonte and Valle d'Aosta) were interviewed by telephone. Results 5FU modulated with Lederfolin according to the classic Machover scheme is the main option in daily practice. More sophisticated therapies are reserved to patients with a good performance status (PS) and are prescribed only in the larger centers. The planned therapies usually consist of six courses. Restaging may be performed after three or six courses. A marked difference has been recorded in the evaluation of a situation of no change (NC): 25.5% of the clinicians evaluate stable disease as a positive result. In the event of disease progression or relapse, 35% of the clinicians do not prescribe second-line CT. In case of further treatment, the options are totally subjective. Conclusions A national survey on this issue is necessary under the auspices of AIOM (Associazione Italiana Oncologia Medica) and involving oncologists, epidemiologists and statisticians, in order to define the reasons for variations in therapy in advanced CRC and determine the differences between clinicians of different age, specialization and location. This survey could lead to a definition of guidelines for the treatment of advanced CRC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Clara H. Mulder ◽  
Emma Lundholm ◽  
Gunnar Malmberg

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