Search results for "Italy"
showing 10 items of 2893 documents
Strawberry fields forever: That is, how many grams of plastics are used to grow a strawberry?
2020
Abstract In important areas of the agricultural sector, plastic is one of the most important tools for improving the managerial and economic performance of companies. Horticultural production under protected cultivation, in particular, makes abundant use of plastic polymers—polymers that mostly turn into waste. This study aims to identify similar organisational models among farmers operating in the strawberry production sector in relation to their intention to recycle plastic material and which factors characterize these models (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, and socio-demographic characteristics) and to quantify the plastic used in relation to the different typ…
Impact of rainfall data resolution in time and space on the urban flooding evaluation.
2013
Climate change and modification of the urban environment increase the frequency and the negative effects of flooding, increasing the interest of researchers and practitioners in this topic. Usually, flood frequency analysis in urban areas is indirectly carried out by adopting advanced hydraulic models to simulate long historical rainfall series or design storms. However, their results are affected by a level of uncertainty which has been extensively investigated in recent years. A major source of uncertainty inherent to hydraulic model results is linked to the imperfect knowledge of the rainfall input data both in time and space. Several studies show that hydrological modelling in urban are…
Quantifying submarine groundwater discharge in the coastal zone via multiple methods
2006
Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) is now recognized as an important pathway between land and sea. As such, this flow may contribute to the biogeochemical and other marine budgets of near-shore waters. These discharges typically display significant spatial and temporal variability making assessments difficult. Groundwater seepage is patchy, diffuse, temporally variable, and may involve multiple aquifers. Thus, the measurement of its magnitude and associated chemical fluxes is a challenging enterprise. A joint project of UNESCO and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has examined several methods of SGD assessment and carried out a series of five intercomparison experiments in di…
Uncertainty in urban flood damage assessment due to urban drainage modelling and depth-damage curve estimation
2010
Due to the increased occurrence of flooding events in urban areas, many procedures for flood damage quantification have been defined in recent decades. The lack of large databases in most cases is overcome by combining the output of urban drainage models and damage curves linking flooding to expected damage. The application of advanced hydraulic models as diagnostic, design and decision-making support tools has become a standard practice in hydraulic research and application. Flooding damage functions are usually evaluated by a priori estimation of potential damage (based on the value of exposed goods) or by interpolating real damage data (recorded during historical flooding events). Hydrau…
Microbial environmental contamination in Italian dental clinics: A multicenter study yielding recommendations for standardized sampling methods and t…
2012
A microbiological environmental investigation was carried out in ten dental clinics in Italy. Microbial contamination of water, air and surfaces was assessed in each clinic during the five working days, for one week per month, for a three-month period. Water and surfaces were sampled before and after clinical activity; air was sampled before, after, and during clinical activity. A wide variation was found in microbial environmental contamination, both within the participating clinics and for the different sampling times. Before clinical activity, microbial water contamination in tap water reached 51,200cfu/mL (colony forming units per milliliter), and that in Dental Unit Water Systems (DUWS…
Co-circulation of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Gamma variants in Italy, February and March 2021
2022
Background Several SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOC) have emerged through 2020 and 2021. There is need for tools to estimate the relative transmissibility of emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 with respect to circulating strains. Aim We aimed to assess the prevalence of co-circulating VOC in Italy and estimate their relative transmissibility. Methods We conducted two genomic surveillance surveys on 18 February and 18 March 2021 across the whole Italian territory covering 3,243 clinical samples and developed a mathematical model that describes the dynamics of co-circulating strains. Results The Alpha variant was already dominant on 18 February in a majority of regions/autonomous provinces (…
The Role of Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns in Shaping Firm Innovativeness: Evidence from Italy
2023
PurposeThis paper aims to contribute to the scientific debate concerning the impact of equity crowdfunding on the performance of crowdfunded firms after campaigning. To this aim, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of the campaign and the subsequent firm innovativeness.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a quantitative research approach to evaluate if the entrepreneurial choices affecting the characteristics of the equity crowdfunding campaigns have an impact on the post-campaign firm innovativeness.FindingsThe results of the models show that the campaign characteristics have a direct impact on the firm innovativeness, both in te…
Questionnaires and simulations to assess daylighting in Italian university classrooms for IEQ and energy issues
2021
Abstract Results from the DAYKE-Italy project are presented. An investigation on daylighting in eight classrooms in five Italian universities was carried out through a combined approach: an ad-hoc survey administered to students to investigate how they perceive daylight in classroom, and numerical simulations (DIVA + ALFA) to calculate a set of objective metrics (daylight, circadian, and energy-related). A sample of 542 questionnaires was collected through two sessions and the subjective judgments were correlated to objective metrics. Results from descriptive and statistical analyses showed: (i) the correlation was significant for all daylight metrics: among them, average daylight factor an…
Parasorex depereti (Crochet, 1986) (Lipotyphla, Mammalia), from the Upper Messinian (MN13) fissure filling of Brisighella (Faenza, Northern Apennine,…
2013
A large-sized species of Parasorex is rather common in the MN13 mammal assemblages from the uppermost Messinian sandy - marly fissure fillings within the Gessoso Solfifera Formation at Brisighella (Northern Apennine). This erinaceid had been originally classified as Galerix sp. in the first papers on the Brisighella fauna. Later on, it was described in detail in an unpublished dissertation by Fanfani (1999) who referred it to Galerix depereti. Unfortunately, the study remained virtually unknown to the scientific community. Hoek Ostende (2001) included G. depereti in the genus Parasorex, while Ziegler (2005) accommodated it in Schizogalerix. Hoek Ostende’s (2001) opinion is followed here. Pa…
Genetic and phytochemical difference between some Indian and Italian plants of Whitania somnifera (L.) Dunal
2007
The geographical distribution of Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is quite wide. However, in Italy. this species is very rare and grows spontaneously only in Sicily and in Sardinia. The PCR-RAPD technique has been utilized in this work to determine the genetic relationship among Sicilian, Sardinian and Indian samples and the HPLC analysis of whitaferin A was used as a marker to evaluate the phytochemical differences. The genetic difference between Indian and Sicilian plants of W. somnifera turned out to be smaller than that between Indian and Sardinian plants of this species. The phytochemical analysis as well showed that the Sardinian specimen strongly differed from the Indian and Sicilian on…