196,286 research outputs found
Diurnal behavior of the agrimi, Capra aegagrus
No full textCapra aegagrus cretensis on Theodorou Island Wildlife Preserve, Greece, have seasonal and daily activity patterns that minimize their exposure to high ambient temperatures. There were significant differences in time spent lying, standing, feeding, and moving among subsets of the population classified by sex, season, and time of day. Agrimi usually were solitary, but they often formed small groups that varied in both age and sex composition. There was an age-and sex-specific dominance hierarchy with older, consequently larger, males being dominant. -from Author
LA SELVICOLTURA URBANA: NON SOLO LA CURA DEGLI ALBERI
No full textI profondi cambiamenti demografici, sociali e di stile di vita che caratterizzano l’inizio del millennio, aprono una serie di nuove problematiche che possono coinvolgere in modo determinante il mondo forestale. Una di queste problematiche riguarda il territorio urbano e periurbano che, se da un lato certamente è spesso il meno ricco di risorse naturali e forestali, allo stesso tempo rappresenta per ampie fasce della popolazione la più immediata, se non unica, possibilità di contatto con la natura. La ricerca scientifica ha evidenziato il ruolo fondamentale degli spazi verdi urbani e periurbani, immediatamente accessibili alla popolazione, non solo nel modificare alcuni parametri dell’ambiente (temperatura, qualità dell’aria, ecc.), nel contribuire al mantenimento della biodiversità e del paesaggio storico e culturale, ma anche, e soprattutto, nel promuovere comportamenti di vita più sani e sostenibili. Il contatto con l’ambiente e il paesaggio naturale, così come le opportunità per l’esercizio fisico, offerti dal verde urbano sono fondamentali per prevenire molti problemi di carattere sanitario, dai problemi di iperattività, di deficit di attenzione e di obesità nei bambini, allo stress e agli stati depressivi nella popolazione adulta, fino alle patologie che affliggono una popolazione anziana che è in costante crescita, tutte condizioni destinate altrimenti a gravare sempre di più sulla spesa sanitaria.
Il ruolo della ricerca e della pratica forestale in questo settore è fondamentale nell’affrontare sia le problematiche più “tradizionali” legate allo studio e alla gestione dei popolamenti arborei, anche se in ambienti urbani e periurbani, spesso assai diversi dalla foresta, sia altre che richiedono invece approcci scientifici e professionalità che si collocano su una linea di confine con altri settori professionali, ma alle quali le competenze del selvicoltore possono dare un contributo essenziale.
Lo scopo di questo lavoro è fare il punto sullo stato della ricerca nella selvicoltura urbana in Italia e delle sue possibilità di sviluppo future, evidenziandone i rapporti anche con i principali filoni di ricerca a livello europeo e internazionale, e le sue applicazioni più significative
Metabolite transport and its impact on metabolic engineering approaches
No full textCells are the structural units of life and are separated from the environment by at least one cellular membrane consisting of a lipid bilayer. Thus, metabolite transport across cellular membranes is a key feature of living organisms. Specialized proteins or protein complexes mediate transport processes and are accessible to metabolic engineering approaches. Genetic modifications in metabolic engineering has mostly involved the deletion or overexpression of genes encoding for enzymes. The role of transporters has received much less attention, but as this special issue shows, it is a key factor to consider when rationally designing microbial cell factories. Transporters have been employed in metabolic engineering endeavors to target three fundamental aspects: Import of substrates , Export of products , Modification of intracellular fluxes
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy: An overview (Review article)
No full textBovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), a novel disease of cattle first described in 1986, has now reached epidemic proportion in Great Britain with about 500 cases a week. The clinical, epidemiological, and pathological characteristics of BSE are described. Moreover, the etiopathogenetic mechanisms of spongiform encephalopathies are reviewed. Legislative measures to prevent the spread of BSE in Italy and in other EEC countries and to minimize the theoretical risk to man are reported.[...
Can We Barter Local Taxes for Maintaining Our Green? A Psychological Perspective
No full textPrevious research highlighted that the desire for neighborhood improvement is an antecedent of the citizens’ involvement in green urban areas maintenance. Nevertheless, the topic of civic participation in the maintenance of green areas is not yet well developed in the literature and a link with local legislation is missing. We investigate the intention of participation in such maintenance through a web-based experiment. We hypothesize that stimuli of poor (vs. good) maintenance will be associated with a higher intention of contributing to the upkeep of green areas following the administrative barter law. The administrative barter is a law approved in Italy, which gives citizens the possibility of a reduction of local taxes in exchange for their involvement in the improvement of the territory. One hundred ninety-six participants (Mage = 33.81) were assigned randomly to good maintenance condition (n = 100) or poor maintenance condition (n = 96). The level of maintenance was manipulated through photographs of a neighborhood depicting good or poor maintenance of the urban green ornamentation. Results pointed out that people showed a greater willingness to engage in the improvement of green urban areas in the poor condition as compared to the good condition, according to the administrative barter law. This study suggests that local legislation may provide an incentive fostering citizens’ involvement in green urban areas maintenance
Caprine arthritis-encephalitis. Virus isolation and identification in goat herds in Italy.
No full textStudy of Lipase Production by Yarrowia Lipolytica Grown in High Concentration of Hydrophobic Carbon Sources
No full textYarrowia lipolytica is one of the most studied “non-conventional” oleaginous yeasts. It is able to produce a number of valuable proteins and metabolites such as lipases and other hydrolytic enzymes, single cell oils (SCOs), single cell proteins (SCPs), carboxylic acids, erythritol and γ-decalactone (Nicaud, 2012). Scientific research is focusing on Y. lipolytica due to its ability to grow on different carbon sources, both hydrophobic and hydrophilic, and to its high tolerance to broad pH ranges and salt concentrations (Miller and Halper, 2019). Lipases (EC 3.1.1.3) are a class of hydrolases which naturally catalyze the hydrolysis of triglycerides to glycerol and free fatty acids at the oil–water interface in the presence of emulsions. Furthermore, lipases are very important for the synthesis of esters through esterification and transesterification reactions in anhydrous conditions, with high enantioselectivity. For their ability to catalyze specific biotransformations in different reaction media, lipases have been employed in several industrial sectors, from the pharmaceutical to food and chemical industries (Treichel et al., 2010). Y. lipolytica use as a sustainable platform for lipase production has been investigate using waste cooking oils (WCOs). The term WCO refers to oils and fats from food processing and storage at a commercial, industrial or household level. In Europe, WCOs annual production accounts for approximately 4 million tons/y (EBIA, 2021). If not collected and properly disposed of, WCOs can form the so-called “fatbergs” that can damage and clog the sewage system and pollute water and soil (Foo et al., 2014). In this work, the capabilities of Y. lipolytica to grow on high concentrations of different hydrophobic carbon sources, such as Olive Oil and WCOs, among others, were investigated to evaluate their potential as inducers for lipase production
The Effects of Ovine Lentivirus Infection on Some Productive Aspects in a Sardinian Sheep Flock from Italy
No full textThe effects of ovine lentivirus infection on the fat, protein and lactose concentrations on the somatic cell counts in ewes' milk, on milk production and on the birth weight and growth of lambs were studied in a flock of Sardinian sheep from central Italy. Data on 61 lactations of ewes positive to both the agargel immunodiffusion test and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were compared with those on 46 lactations of seronegative ewes. Confounders such as parity, age, lactation length, litter size, and the sex of the lambs were considered. None of these traits seemed to be negatively influenced by the infection
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