University of Bari Aldo Moro
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Monitoring Soil Biodiversity and Biological Resilience in Disturbed Ecosystems: First Application of the BSR Index
No full textSoil biodiversity is crucial for maintaining biological soil resilience, understood as a temporal property and as the ability of soils to uphold or recover their ecological functions under stress thanks to the diversity and complementarity of their biological communities. To evaluate this property, we developed the Biological Soil Resilience Index (BSR), conceived as an evolution of the QBS-ar approach by integrating additional key bioindicators—entomopathogenic nematodes, entomopathogenic fungi, and earthworms—together with microarthropod eco-morphological adaptation scores. This multi-taxon framework provides a more comprehensive assessment of soil biological conditions than single-group indices and is specifically designed to be applied repeatedly over time to detect resilience trajectories. The Biodiversity Soil Resilience (BSR) Index was applied across nine sites subject to low, medium, and high anthropogenic disturbance, spanning urban, industrial, and airport environments. Results revealed not a resilience gradient but a clear disturbance gradient: low-impact sites achieved the highest BSR values (52–59), reflecting diverse and functionally complementary assemblages; medium-impact sites maintained moderate BSR value (27–42), but displayed imbalances among faunal groups; and high-impact sites showed the lowest values, including a critically low score at C_HI (17.86), where entomopathogens were absent and earthworm populations reduced. Entomopathogenic organisms proved particularly sensitive, disappearing entirely under severe disturbance. The BSR was sensitive to environmental gradients and effective in distinguishing ecologically meaningful differences among soil communities. Because it can be repeatedly applied over time, BSR provides the basis for monitoring long-term resilience dynamics, detecting early warning signals, and support timely mitigation or restoration measures. Overall, the study highlights the pivotal role of biodiversity in sustaining soil resilience and supports the BSR Index as a simple yet integrative tool for soil health assessment and for future resilience monitoring in disturbed landscape
First Observation of the Charmless Baryonic Decay B+ → Λ ̄ p p ̄ p
No full textA search for the charmless baryonic decay B+→Λ ̄pp ̄p is performed using proton-proton collision data recorded by the LHCb experiment, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb-1. The branching fraction for this decay is measured for the first time relative to that of the topologically similar decay B+→J/ψK+, with J/ψ→Λ ̄pK-. The branching fraction is measured to be B(B+→Λ ̄pp ̄p)=(2.15±0.35±0.12±0.28)×10-7, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third arises from the uncertainty in the normalization channel branching fraction. The CP asymmetry is measured to be ACP=(5.4±15.6±2.4)%, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic. The background-subtracted invariant-mass distributions of Λ ̄p and p ̄p pairs exhibit pronounced enhancements at both kinematic thresholds, in contrast to a uniform phase-space distribution
Economic dependence and vulnerability: an intersectional perspective on risk factors for people in same-sex relationships
No full textIntimate Partner Violence (IPV) can manifest in various forms: physical, psychological,sexual, and economic. In particular, economic violence can mark the onset of other forms ofviolence, from which the victim may find it increasingly difficult to escape. A context ofinequalities, whether overt or subtle, in fact enables such violence by reducing thecapabilities and agency of specific groups compared to others. Theoretical approachesfocusing on access to resources and the inherent dependence highlight that asymmetriesbetween partners could set the conditions for violence to occur, fuelled by power imbalancesoperating at both micro and macro levels, among other factors largely through gender-baseddifferentiations. But in the absence of gender differentiation as an organizing principle ofthe intimate relationship, how are patterns of asymmetry and dynamics of dependencestructured within same-sex couples?The study applies a gendered and intersectional approach to the analysis of the conditions ofeconomic dependence and vulnerability, in order to prepare the way to a further analysis oftheir impact across various domains, and outlines potential risk factors and their differentmanifestations according to gender and sexual orientation. Socio-demographic andeconomic indicators, including age, citizenship, education, employment, and propertyregime, are compared here, in order to explore asymmetries that may constitute potentialrisk factors of IPV and especially economic violence. The study uses a descriptive approachbased on ISTAT data on marriages and civil partnerships (2019–2023).The approach presented here is applicable across gender categories and able to highlight thespecific outcomes for each group. In particular for LGBT+ people, who are exposed tospecific gender-based violence that can foster conditions of vulnerability, increasing the riskof dependence on a partner, and creating a vicious cycle that is often difficult to detect beforeit escalates into violence
Da Dioniso ad Alessandro: plasmare e negoziare identità tra Bajaur e Swat in età ellenistica
No full textIl contributo esamina il processo mitopoietico e identitario che, a partire dalla campagna asiatica di Alessandro Magno, ha portato alla creazione e alla diffusione del mito di Dioniso come conquistatore e civilizzatore dell’India. Questa narrazione, intenzionalmente promossa per esaltare le imprese del re macedone, ha trovato un terreno di negoziazione culturale (middle ground) nelle valli del Gandhara settentrionale, tra gli attuali Afghanistan e Pakistan
Enhanced ethanol retention and thermal stability in calcium chloride-stabilized ethyl cellulose gel fuels
No full textThe design of thermally stable, thixotropic gel systems with tunable mechanical properties is essential for advanced functional materials. In this study, ethanol-based ethyl cellulose (EC) gels were fabricated via incorporation of calcium chloride (CaCl2), and their microstructural, rheological, and thermal behaviours were systematically investigated. Ethanol–EC solutions form viscous liquids; however, CaCl2 induces gelation through a synergistic mechanism of ionic coordination with ethanol and cellulose chains, promoting a robust polymer network. At an optimal EC:CaCl2 ratio of 2:1 (sample EC100s50), oscillatory rheology confirmed a true gel state (G′ > G′′ in the linear viscoelastic region, yield stress ≈ 115 Pa), accompanied by shear-thinning behaviour. Phase-contrast microscopy revealed a homogeneous, interconnected network, while thermogravimetric analysis indicated enhanced ethanol retention, with delayed evaporation up to 165 ◦C and single-step EC decomposition occurring at 312 ◦C. The activation energy for EC decomposition in the optimized sample (EC90s45) reached 185 ± 15 kJ mol−1, exceeding that of pure EC, yet ethanol was still released for ignition, with an activation energy of 45 ±4 kJ mol−1 and a total combustion energy density of 29.3 kJ g−1. These results demonstrate that CaCl2-assisted ionic coordination is an effective strategy for engineering soft-solid ethanol–EC gels with tuneable viscoelasticity and thermal resistance, offering potential for applications in energy materials and propulsion-related functional composites
The Ideology denies identity. But which ideology? And which identities?|L’ideologia nega l’identità. Ma quale ideologia? E quali identità?
No full textThe contribution presents a discussion on gender incongruence starting from a psychosocial approach that highlights the specific connotations of the Italian cultural context in which the arguments on sexual identities are placed, starting from the criticism of the non-existent gender ideology. Subsequently, it develops a clinical reflection on gender dysphoria and gender incongruence. This analysis allows to recover a theoretical and interpretative model to support affirmative paradigms, underlining the need to assume adequate constructs and practices for clinical interventions on adolescents with gender incongruence
Tau (signum thau)
No full textIl contributo analizza il signum thau utilizzato da san Francesco d'Assisi: come e perché il santo lo usava
The influence of grain size and channelization on mobility of volcanic granular flows: insights from laboratory experiments
No full textLaboratory experiments on granular flows using natural material were carried out under different conditions in order to investigate the behavior of fine to coarse-grained, channelized and non-channelized granular flows passing over a break in slope. Morphometric parameters of channelized and non-channelized experiments are compared for both fine-grained and coarse-grained grain size distributions. After normalization, morphometric data provide empirical relationships that highlight
the major influence of grain size vs. channelization of the experimental flows. Normalized velocity data of the flow front show third-order polynomial fit for both coarse-grained and fine-grained experiments, as well as for non-channelized and channelized ones. This highlights similar complex behavior of the different experimental flows, which differs only for different partition of inertial and frictional forces at changing grain size of experimental mixtures. The runout of coarsegrained granular flows is always longer than that of fine-grained granular flows, irrespective if they are channelized or non-channelized. Finally, we discuss the applicability of the experimental results to natural granular flows, highlighting the
change in physical behavior of fine-rich pyroclastic density currents and volcaniclastic flows depending on the effectiveness of fluidization processes in fine-grained natural materials
Educar en tiempos del antropoceno: desafíos éticos entre el colapso y la esperanza
No full textEl capítulo examina el papel transformador de la educación en el Antropoceno, época caracterizada por crisis ecológicas, sociales y culturales interconectadas. Partiendo de una crítica al antropocentrismo y a los modelos educativos tradicionales, se propone una pedagogía orientada al cuidado, la justicia y la regeneración socioecológica. Se presentan dos enfoques clave: la ecopedagogía, que hunde sus raíces en la pedagogía crítica de Freire y promueve una conciencia ecológica capaz de analizar las causas estructurales de la crisis ambiental; y la Educación para el Desarrollo Sostenible (EDS), promovida por la UNESCO, que integra las dimensiones ambiental, social, cultural y económica del progreso humano. Ambas orientaciones buscan formar sujetos capaces de actuar de manera crítica, relacional y contextual frente a los desafíos del presente.
El texto subraya la necesidad de una educación transdisciplinaria, emocionalmente competente y comprometida con la transformación cultural. La figura del educador profesional sociopedagógico se redefine como agente de cambio, capaz de promover resiliencia, comunidad y ciudadanía planetaria. En un mundo marcado por la vulnerabilidad, educar significa construir presencia, imaginar futuros sostenibles y activar formas de esperanza activa. La educación se convierte así en una herramienta ética y política fundamental para habitar el límite, cultivar la complejidad y generar alternativas al modelo de desarrollo dominante, formando ciudadanos planetarios responsables de la vida en la Tierra