Search results for " MEDITERRANEAN"
showing 10 items of 1222 documents
Limonium cophanense (Plumbaginaceae), a new species from Sicily
2016
Limonium cophanense is described and illustrated as a new species from the rocky coast of northwestern Sicily. It is a very rare and localized chamaephyte occurring near the sea on calcarenitic substrate, where it grows together with other halophytes. Its morphology, ecology, conservation status and relationships with the species belonging to the L. bocconei group are also examined.
Energetic Sustainability Using Renewable Energies in the Mediterranean Sea
2016
The paper is focused on the analysis of the electrical energy sector in the Maltese islands, focusing on the employment of Renewable Energies in order to increase its energy independence. The main renewable source here proposed is wave energy: thanks to its strategic position, Malta will be able to generate electrical energy through the use of an innovative type of Wave Energy Converter (WEC) based on the prototype of linear generator designed and developed by the University of Palermo. This new technology will be able to cut down the electrical energy production from traditional power plants and, consequently, the greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Wave energy source and off-shore photovoltai…
Sustainability of the Renewable Energy Extraction Close to the Mediterranean Islands
2017
The aim of this work is to explore the possibility of transitioning a fuel powered island to a renewable powered one. This transition is analyzed for the real MV/LV distribution system of the island of Pantelleria, in the Mediterranean Sea. Particularly, this work is focused on a renewable source nowadays totally unused: wave energy. Thanks to the innovative generator prototype designed by Department of Energy of University of Palermo (Italy), wave energy is able to represent a primary source for the production of electric energy in the Mediterranean islands. The procedures applied in the present article, as well as the main equations used, are the result of previous applications made in di…
DRIFTS Sensor: Soil Carbon Validation at Large Scale (Pantelleria, Italy)
2013
A fast and accurate measurement of soil carbon is needed in current scientific issues. Today there are many sensors suitable for these purposes, but choosing the appropriate sensor depends on the spatial scale at which the studies are conducted. There are few detailed studies that validate these types of measures allowing their immediate use. Here it is validated the quick use of a sensor in execution at Pantelleria, chosen for size, use and variability of the parameter measured, to give an operational tool for carbon stocks studies. The DRIFT sensor used here has been validated in the first 60 cm of the soil of the whole island, and it has shown predictivity higher than 90%.
Embedding “substrate” in environmental assessment of green roofs life cycle: evidences from an application to the whole chain in a Mediterranean site
2012
Abstract A classical LCA methodology is here applied to green roofs including in this analysis also the whole life cycle of the substrate, that represented a lack of previous LCA studies on green roofs. This inclusion will allow a complete and proper application of the LCA methodology to achieve an environmental accounting of the “green roof” performance. We have here chosen to approach the problem by analysing a specific substrate, that is used within an actual extensive green roof. Afterwards, we have applied the LCA methodology to the whole actual extensive green roof whose substrate under analysis is part of. In this manner, we achieved an environmental accounting of the “green roof” pe…
Creating and sustaining local entrepreneurs: a Schumpeterian view of economic growth
2010
In his Theory of economic development and Business cycles Joseph Schumpeter explained the long and short-run importance of an economy’s credit system to the vitality of entrepreneurship. Famously, the entrepreneur is the key figure in the process of innovating the structure of an economy, according to Schumpeter, which is the secret to the long term growth record of capitalist economies. In this project we use Schumpeter’s ideas about the relationship between credit, innovation, and growth in order to evaluate the current state of this relationship in the Mediterranean region, using Sicily as a case study. Based on the case of Sicily we then suggest ways in which local, as opposed to global…
Effects of soil management techniques on soil water erosion in apricot orchards.
2016
Soil erosion is extreme in Mediterranean orchards due to management impact, high rainfall intensities, steep slopes and erodible parent material. Vall d'Albaida is a traditional fruit production area which, due to the Mediterranean climate and marly soils, produces sweet fruits. However, these highly productive soils are left bare under the prevailing land management and marly soils are vulnerable to soil water erosion when left bare. In this paper we study the impact of different agricultural land management strategies on soil properties (bulk density, soil organic matter, soil moisture), soil water erosion and runoff, by means of simulated rainfall experiments and soil analyses. Three rep…
Variation in the stable isotope trophic position of the bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766) from two Mediterranean sites: insights from a g…
2022
A direct consequence of sea warming is the shift in the distribution range of thermo-tolerant species that have the potential to determine novel inter-specific interactions, ultimately altering food web structures and ecosystem processes. In this study, we investigated the trophic position of the bluefish Pomatomus saltatrix (Linnaeus, 1766), a pelagic predator that has recently expanded its distribution in the Mediterranean basin and for which scant information is available on its functional role in recently-colonised areas. Nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes were determined in muscle tissues of bluefish specimens collected in south-east Italy in the Gulf of Taranto (NW Ionian Sea) and in…
Environmental Radioactivity Measurements in the Mediterranean Area
2010
In the framework of an environmental radioactivity monitoring program, a research activity concerning an optimization of techniques for sampling and measurement of environmental radioactivity was performed at the Nuclear Engineering Department (DIN) of Palermo University. Al-though initially aimed to the analysis of monitoring data of the local network installed at the nuclear research reactor AGN-201 "COSTANZA" of Palermo University, in the following years the studies were oriented to improve the sampling facilities and measurement systems with the aim to achieve also detection limits as low as possible. The activity has allowed to collect numerous data of nuclide activity concentration fo…
Science and Healthy Meals in the World: Nutritional Epigenomics and Nutrigenetics of the Mediterranean Diet
2020
The Mediterranean Diet (MD), UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, has become a scientific topic of high interest due to its health benefits. The aim of this review is to pick up selected studies that report nutrigenomic or nutrigenetic data and recapitulate some of the biochemical/genomic/genetic aspects involved in the positive health effects of the MD. These include (i) the antioxidative potential of its constituents with protective effects against several diseases; (ii) the epigenetic and epigenomic effects exerted by food components, such as Indacaxanthin, Sulforaphane, and 3-Hydroxytyrosol among others, and their involvement in the modulation of miRNA expression; (iii) the …