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La conciliazione collettiva nell’art. 140 bis c. cons. dalla l. n. 244 del 24 dicembre 2007 alla l. n. 99 del 23 luglio 2009, alla luce della disciplina transitoria
No full textAzioni collettive risarcitorie e deontologia forense: lacune del diritto interno e prospettive future
No full textINTEGRATED TERRITORIAL APPROACH FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE: NITROGEN MANAGEMENT AND SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN LOMBARDY REGION
Full text linkIn the last years, intensive agriculture and high concentration of livestock activities have become two important environmental concerns, being partially responsible of nitrogen pollution and CO2 emissions caused by carbon loss from soil. That’s particularly true in Lombardy region, due to the presence of more than 27% of cattle and 51% of pigs of the national livestock and due to the extent of area devoted to cereal cropping (about 63% of the utilized agricultural area - UAA). It is also to be remarked that cereals in Lombardy are commonly grown in continuous cropping systems.
In this context, the aim to encourage sustainable agriculture led European Union to introduce regulations (e.g. Nitrates Directive 91/676/EEC), to define mandatory standards, and measures (Common Agricultural Policy), to promote the implementation of best management practices. Consequently, assessing the potential effects of different policies, prior to their introduction, has become very important. Several methods (direct measurements, simulation models, simple and composite indicators) have been developed and applied by traditional agronomic research, however there is still a need of up-scaling experimental results from the farm to the landscape scale. Moreover, it has to be taken into account that the impact of these measures also depends on the interaction between type of action, pedo-climatic factors and farm characteristics. An effective tool for territorial management and planning is then particularly needed in Lombardy, since the territorial approaches, supported by robust methodologies (e.g., extensive databases, models and geographical information systems (GIS)), have become more and more central in European policies.
The aim of this work is to assess and investigate the important outcomes of a more territorially based approach, analysing the most important environmental issues, related to agriculture in Lombardy: manure management, nitrogen leaching and carbon sequestration by soils. Three examples of tools and applications are presented: i) Decision Support System (DSS) ValorE, to analyse and to evaluate manure management and technological alternatives, available for the entire supply chain from animal feed to the distribution in the field; ii) application of the ARMOSA cropping system simulation model to assess the potential risk of nitrate leaching towards groundwater in 3 Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs); iii) application of ARMOSA to evaluate carbon sequestration capacity of regional soils, under current and alternative scenarios, focusing the attention on the impact of different spread levels of conservation agriculture.
The territorial approach proposed in this thesis, was based on robust methodologies, extensive databases, stand-alone models (e.g. ARMOSA), more complex structures (ValorE DSS) and GIS techniques. All these components led this approach to be an effective solution for investigating and supporting the regional agricultural management, as well as for assessing the potential impact of the regional policies, always keeping in mind that agricultural sector plays a key role in the climate change mitigation and in the environmental protection from biodiversity loss and from N pollution
ELECTRON-PARAMAGNETIC-RESONANCE CHARACTERIZATION AND THERMAL DECAY OF RADICALS TRAPPED IN A PHOTOPOLYMERIZED TRIACRYLATE MONOMER
No full textRadicals trapped during the photopolymerization and photo-cross-linking of 2-ethyl-2-hydroxymethylpropane-1,3-diol triacrylic ester have been studied by EPR spectroscopy at different temperatures (25-180-degrees-C) and their thermal decay has been followed at 120-degrees-C and 150-degrees-C. Performing a fitting procedure on the EPR signals showed that they are composed of two kinds of patterns, which superimpose with the same g value. One of them is a single-line spectrum, while the other is hyperfine-structured. An exchange between two radical conformations is revealed by the latter, with the rate depending both on temperature and on the molar fraction of radicals giving the single-line spectrum. This suggests that both species are involved in the exchange mechanism. Termination occurs preferentially between radicals giving the same EPR pattern. Second-order termination rate constants depend on the photoinitiator concentration in the irradiated photoreactive mixture and give information about the microstructure of the polymer
Use of charged particle activation as analytical technique in biological field
No full textSome applications of Charged Particle Activation Analysis (CPAA) in the biological field are presented. This technique has been used frequently for the analysis of the light elements which are inaccessible to neutron activation analysis (NAA), but it is especially effective in the detection of medium-heavy trace elements and there is increasing interest in its employment in biological and medical fields. CPAA enables the identification and simultaneous quantification of different isotopes of the same element. Recent applications show that it can be used as a reference method in stable isotope determination for biokinetic studies of selected elements in complex organic matrices such as blood plasma.
Some applications of Charged Particle Activation Analysis (CPAA) in the biological field are presented. This technique has been used frequently for the analysis of the light elements which are inaccessible to neutron activation analysis (NAA), but it is especially effective in the detection of medium-heavy trace elements and there is increasing interest in its employment in biological and medical fields. CPAA enables the identification and simultaneous quantification of different isotopes of the same element. Recent applications show that it can be used as a reference method in stable isotope determination for biokinetic studies of selected elements in complex organic matrices such as blood plasma
Biokinetics of ingested radionuclides and assessment of internal dose
No full textThe release of natural and artificial radionuclides into the environment is increasing the need of being able to assess radiation dose to the members of the public. To obtain reliable estimates of the doses to a population, information is required on the uptake of radionuclides following ingestion and/or inhalation, on their internal distribution, excretion and on factors influencing their biokinetics. A new physiologically based model of the gastro-intestinal tract is needed, by taking into consideration recent data on gut transit times (Stubbs, 1992) and crossing them with factors such as age and gender. The selection of biokinetic parameters to be used in such a model calls primarily for data obtained on humans. Methods, using stable isotope and, when necessary, chemical analogues for radiologically important elements which have no stable isotopes, offer great opportunities, especially for studies on gastro-intestinal absorption. The first applications of stable isotopes for studies of metabolic processes, essentially related to nutrition and food science, are dating back to the forties and considerably expanded for the basic elements H, O, C and N till the beginning of eighties when several groups concerted efforts in various aspects of metabolism of essential minerals. Two general methods are available for analysis of stable isotopes and both of them are based on the differences in their nuclear properties: mass spectrometry analysis and activation analysis. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) and activation analysis as NAA and CPAA may be referred as complementary techniques for stable isotope determination in biological samples. Human metabolic data, obtained up to now, by using stable isotopes of elements of radiological significance such as Mo, Sr, Ba, Nd, showed that fractional gut absorption of some elements may exceed the adopted ICRP values. Further investigations on these elements, on Te, Zr, Ru and on selected elements of the lanthanide series, taken as actinide analogues, are currently carried out. The methods for quantifying isotopes are time consuming and demand equipment and skills which are restricted to few laboratories. Nevertheless the use of stable isotopes is the only answer fitting the need of an ethically justifiable and publicly acceptable, method for investigating a population
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