Firenze University Press: E-Journals
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Copper in plant protection: current situation and prospects
Get PDFCopper has been used in agriculture to control oomycetes, fungi and bacteria for over a century. It plays important roles in integrated pest management, but is essential in organic farming, where disease management depends almost exclusively on its use. However, the use of this heavy metal may have log-term consequences due to its accumulation in the soil, which appears incompatible with organic farming’s objectives. This awareness led the European Union to establish maximum limits on copper in organic farming since 2002 (Commission Regulation 473/2002), and further decisions on its use in crop protection are to be taken soon. At present, copper compounds are approved as plant protection products until 31 January 2019. This review examines the current state of copper use, the regulatory framework, and limits set for copper in organic farming. Strategies to reduce copper inputs are also considered, including: preventive phytosanitary measures, innovative formulations with reduced copper content, optimization of copper dosages, the use of forecasting models, the use of resistant varieties, optimization of agriculture management, and natural alternatives to copper-based products. This review also examines the main research projects exploring farming practices and appropriate alternatives to copper use for the control of plant pathogens. The review highlights that, while there is currently no replacement for this heavy metal having the same plant protection effectiveness, agronomic measures and management practices can be combined to reduce the amounts of copper used for this purpose
Species diversity and distribution of lizards in Montenegro
No full textThe southern part of Montenegro has been identified as an area with high diversity of herpetofauna. However, comprehensive studies of distribution and diversity patterns of reptiles on the country level are still missing. Such studies are essential in designating areas of special conservation importance and nature protection planning in a milieu of increased habitat loss and degradation due to rapid urbanization and tourism development in this small Mediterranean country. To make progress on this problem, we analyzed distribution and diversity patterns of the lizards in Montenegro using a large database consisting of literature data and our unpublished records. We found that fifteen lizard species inhabit Montenegro, and two additional species may be present. The lizards were most diverse in the Maritime biogeographic region of Montenegro, while low diversity was found predominantly along the state borders in the Mountain-valley region. The identified pattern of lizard diversity is at least partly influenced by sampling bias. The eastern mountainous subregion had a distinct species composition compared to all other parts of the country. The East-Mediterranean chorotype was the most dominant, represented by seven species. The great diversity of the lizard fauna of Montenegro can be attributed to its specific topographic position with great influence of Mediterranean climate, heterogeneity of biomes, complex geological history and diverse physiogeographic features. High lizard species richness in the Maritime region and a unique species composition in the eastern subregion of Montenegro indicate that these areas are of high conservation interest
Una tradizione rinnovata. Tracce di riflessione sulla paternità oggi
No full textThis contribution refers to a PhD Research – in the pedagogical field, empirical and qualitative – conducted at the University of Milano-Bicocca in the last three years. The research aimed to detect the manifestations of educational desire in 10 sets of parents on the threshold of adolescence of their children, for improve parents’ awareness about their educational actions within the family. The article analyzes the paternal figure, traditionally seen as a model of firmness and security, and also inheriting some traits of feminine knowledge, therefore opening to a greater complementarity of roles in the family. Hence, the new fathers are called to reflect on their own role and wishes, opening up the reflection to new parental settings
Sant’Agabio Resiliente: inclusion and solidarity for the urban environment
No full textThis paper presents the work of the Politecnico di Milano for the “Together It Can Be Done: Sant’Agabio Resiliente” project funded by the Cariplo foundation (2016). Inspired by the principles of the Transition Towns movement, the study intervenes in a multiethnic neighborhood of the Municipality of Novara with innovative actions that enhance the quality of urban environment. The original contribution of the project was the activation of the resilience of a community that is in the process of rehabilitation with goals of solidarity, inclusiveness, participation, and autonomy for the future. The strategies adopted have allowed the involvement of associations in activities relevant to environmental resilience and the facilitation of concrete actions able to generate empathy
A Genetic Algorithm-based approach for Project Management and developed design of construction
No full textConstruction Project Management processes aim at the optimization of three main KPIs: time, cost and quality. As the time / cost trade-off approach is well known, quality optimization is still pursued with a practical approach, often based upon Project Manager’s experience. A case study of construction of a new university building is presented, focusing on external walls detailed design. Wall performances concerning time, costs and quality depend on the performances of each of the product layer that composes the wall. For each layer three commercial options has been considered. Therefore, a time – cost – quality trade-off procedure has been implemented using Genetic Algorithms, with the aim of finding a set of optimal solutions for the construction of the building envelope
La classe ritrovata. I mondi operai nella sociologia francese dagli anni ’80 ad oggi
No full textSince the 1970s, a theoretical and empirical interest in the processes of transformation of the working classes has developed in France. Pierre Bourdieu's sociology has offered an analytical framework for analysing such processes, which are investigated through various field studies that follow in the 1980s and 1990s. In particular, the long ethnography by Stéphane Beaud and Michel Pialoux among the workers of the Peugeot factory in Sochaux-Montbéliard, the largest French factory, applies a generational reading key to the decline of the French working class, which is read in terms of crisis of its social reproduction. Following this research, in the years 2000s and 2010s a broad sociological debate on the reconfigurations of the working classes opened up, showing that their heterogeneity, according to the geographical location, the fields of activity and the type of employment, the prevailing sex and nationality/ethnicity, may have consequences on the reproduction of class culture
Genetic diversity and race composition of sunflower broomrape populations from Tunisia
No full textSunflower broomrape (Orobanche cumana Wallr.) was detected in 2010 for the first time in sunflower fields of Tunisia, in the Béja region. No information is available on the race composition and genetic diversity of the broomrape populations parasitizing sunflower in that area. Plant tissue and seeds were collected from nine populations in Béja Sud (ORD, ORE), Amdoun (ORF, ORG), and Béja Nord (ORH to ORL) areas of the Béja region. Virulence studies on populations ORD, ORH and ORK revealed that the ORD population was essentially race E, whereas race G individuals were present in ORH and ORK poulations, with greater frequency in the ORK population. Cluster analysis of inter-population relatedness indicated that Tunisian populations were more related to Eastern European than to Spanish populations, with the Béja Nord populations clustering separately from the rest of Tunisian populations. Analysis at the intra-population level of the ORD, ORG, ORH and ORK populations revealed the existence of two gene pools (GP1 and GP2), that were present in all populations at different frequencies. GP2 was at a lower frequency (1/14) in ORD and ORG but at higher frequencies in ORH (5/15) and ORK (8/14). This indicates that GP1 was probably an initial introduction of a race E population, while GP2 is most likely a later introduction of a race G population, introduced initially in Béja Nord area but now spreading to other areas in the region. The risk of a generalized expansion of race G of broomrape in this sunflower cultivation area is discussed
Formarsi con il riso
No full textThe article deals with the role of laughing in pedagogy. Starting from its dual presence in the culture (censored and exalted), it is a central attitude in the human culture. The comic, the humor, the irony are also tool for education and laughing is closely connected to critic and utopia