941 research outputs found
EFFECT OF WIDESPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCES ON MEIOFAUNA AND FREE-LIVING NEMATODES
No full textNatural and human disturbances may affect ecosystems compromising their functioning. It is, therefore, important to define prevention strategies to avoid irreparable damages, where the first action implicates the identification of possible environmental criticalities followed by the management actions.
For this purpose, it is necessary to identify reliable and easily applicable bioindicators that can give
an early response to potential environmental disturbance and define the ecological quality of marine coastal systems. Meiofauna (animals from 500 μm to 45 μm in size), and in particular free-living
nematodes, appear good candidates in the framework of the ecological assessment because they
have all the above cited characteristics along with a wide distribution in all the types of environments
and substrata. Thus, the present Ph. D. project takes into consideration six study cases set in a wide
geographical span and under environmental disturbances frequently occurring in the coastal systems. The primary project aims are i) to demonstrate that meiofauna and nematodes can be
efficiently used for the assessment of the health status in marine habitats; ii) to increase the number
of meiobenthic indicator taxa that can be regarded as “sentinels” of human disturbance; iii) to further calibrate the tools so far available for the classification of Ecological Quality (EcoQ) to encourage the use of meiofauna in the assessment of the status of underwater life.
The first study case was carried out in the Maldivian Archipelago (Indian Ocean), where human activities such as dredging and infilling are common practices, which led to a decrease in the taxonomic diversity of many animal species. In this context, the study of nematode communities shows that their taxonomical composition and functional traits (i.e. trophic and life strategy) are mainly influenced by the reef exposure and topography (i.e., lagoon and ocean reefs) and the depth gradient. The high abundance of k-strategists in ocean reefs might indicate a higher EcoQ when compared to lagoon reefs; however, the absence of significant differences in life strategy functional
diversity and functional redundancy indicates that a recovery process is underway. The results
obtained suggest that nematodes could add important information to the vulnerability and resilience
of the benthos and, therefore, should be included in the biomonitoring activities of the Coral
Degradation Zones (CDZs) along with the reef bioconstructors.
The second case study from the Indian Ocean (Indonesia), was carried out in two seagrass
meadows characterized by different sedimentological regimes and anthropogenic pressure. The
lowest meiobenthic abundance and diversity found at the Barat meadow along with the major
sediment modifications suggested a higher anthropogenic pressure in this site. Rare meiobenthic
taxa (<1% of the total abundance in all investigated samples) revealed significant differences in the composition of the meiobenthic assemblage suggesting the key role of rare meiobenthic taxa as possible indicators of spatial variability generated by engineer species and different environmental conditions.
The third study concerned the Southern Ocean at Terra Nova Bay (Antarctica), where the effects of the human activities in the Mario Zucchelli Research Station were compared with the natural
disturbance occurring in the penguin colony located at Adelie Cove. Here, the high contribution of r-
strategists corroborates the hypothesis that the chronic impact of the penguin colonies may have
stronger effects on the meiobenthos than the human activities at the research station and, as
reported in the Indonesian study, the assemblage structure of rare meiobenthic taxa is confirmed to
be more susceptible to environmental variations, rather than the whole assemblage structure.
In the fourth study, a commercial port of the Ligurian Sea, nematode communities were investigated in stations at an increasing distance from the port. The stations selected at an increasing distance from the port outlet aim to detect how ports may influence the benthic nematodes from surrounding coastal areas. The taxonomical and functional distribution of the nematode species appeared influenced by the contamination level, granulometry, and organic load of sediments. According to
these results, the nearest stations to the port outlet appeared to be the most polluted, while the coast close to Bergeggi Marine Protected Area seemed as the most pristine area. Furthermore, the study
indicated a selection of the genera that may be considered as sentinels of sediment contamination
and organic enrichment. The maturity index suggested that the different proportion of the nematode life-strategies is an effective tool to assess the EcoQ of sediments.
In the fifth study the sediments within three commercial ports from the Adriatic Sea (Ancona and Trieste, Italy; Koper, Slovenia) were investigated, the nematode analysis indicated that r-strategist
genera were dominant in all three study areas. Despite the high contamination levels, Trieste showed high nematode biodiversity which suggests a potential adaptation of nematodes to a long-standing contamination. A co-occurrence analysis was performed to further implement the sets of bioindicator
genera concerning their different opportunistic behaviors and to identify which genera cohesively respond to site-specific environmental conditions. The results encourage the use of nematodes for
the EcoQ assessment of port seabeds.
Despite the good response of meiofauna and nematodes as bioindicators of anthropogenic
disturbance, the taxonomic identification of these organisms remains a time-consuming activity and requires the supervision of experienced taxonomists. To overcome this problem, in the sixth study,
was proposed a combination of morpho-functional traits (i.e. amphids, cuticles, buccal cavities, and tail shapes) as an alternative to the taxonomic identification of the nematode specimens. The
approach was tested by employing a meta-analysis of a data set of study cases from the
Mediterranean Sea. The statistical results revealed that the trait combination perfectly mirrors the
changes in the taxonomic community structure at the genus level which makes it possible to suggest
this approach as a rapid test of nematode fauna changes for biomonitoring purposes
IMPIEGO DI UNA COMBINAZIONE DI TRATTI MORFO-FUNZIONALI COME METODO ALTERNATIVO PER L’ANALISI DELLA STRUTTURA DELLA NEMATOFAUNA MARINA E TERRICOLA
No full textL'uso delle tecnologie digitali da parte di imprenditori e innovatori sociali: potenzialità e limiti
No full textLo scopo di questo saggio è di discutere le ricerche recenti sull’uso delle tecnologie digitali da parte di imprenditori e innovatori sociali, analizzandone limiti e potenzialità, e di offrire spunti di ricerca futura. In particolare, abbiamo distinto due tipi di utilizzo delle tecnologie digitali da parte di imprenditori e innovatori sociali. In primo luogo, si discute l’uso delle tecnologie digitali come strumenti per creare impatto sociale in tre aree specifiche relative all’inclusione sociale ed economica, salute e benessere, e impegno civico. Si prosegue poi discutendo l’uso delle tecnologie digitali come strumenti per migliorare ed efficientare le operazioni, per esempio nell’ambito del reperimento delle risorse e in tema di accountability. Infine, si indicano spunti di ricerca futura che si ritiene rilevanti al fine di avanzare la conoscenza sulle potenzialità e limiti delle tecnologie negli ambiti della imprenditorialità e innovazione sociale
Il translanguaging nella scrittura collaborativa di studenti universitari con profilo plurilingue
No full textThe essay focuses on translanguaging discourse practices among plurilingual university students engaged in collaborative reading and writing activities involving academic language. Dyads of plurilingual students sharing (at least) one language other than Italian in their common repertoire have been engaged in two comparable sessions of tasks, crucially differing for the possibility of recurring or not to languages other than Italian in deploying the tasks. The quantitative and qualitative data, including perceptive ones presented indicate that so much in understanding
as much as in collaborative writing the use of plurilingual practices
facilitate the academic task of understanding and synthetizing disciplinary content in L2, although the perceptual investigation does not always reveal
awareness of this.
Together with raising awareness among students, it thus seems essential
the development of educational interventions aimed at integrating
these practices in a systematic and strategic way
Quality of institutions and employment dynamics of social enterprises: Evidence from Italian regions
No full textThis paper empirically investigates the effect of the quality of regional institutions on social enterprises’ employment growth. Using an original panel dataset of social enterprises during 2011–2020, FE and GMM estimates provide three findings. First, higher institutional quality at the regional level positively affects firms’ employment. Second, the effect is heterogenous and varies across firms’ size. Third, corruption in the provision of public services significantly inhibits the “speed” of employment growth for Micro and SMEs
Risk, vulnerability, and protective factors in living with a tracheostomy in times of Covid-19
No full textThe study aimed to explore the experiences of people with neuromuscular and chronic respiratory diseases and their caregivers concerning tracheostomy management at home during the Covid-19 health emergency in Italy. In a multiple case study approach, we sought perspectives through semi-structured interviews of caregivers and patients with neuromuscular or chronic respiratory diseases and tracheostomy. In addition, the following instruments were used: Connor and Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC-25), to detect resilience; Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II (AAQ-II), to detect flexibility; State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), to detect trait anxiety; Langer Mindfulness Scale (LMS), to measure dispositional mindfulness; Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI) to detect caregiver’s burden. Qualitative analyses, based on Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), were used to identify themes, sub-themes, frequency of words and metaphors. Twenty-two patients [50% female, Mean age=50.2±21.2] and 52 caregivers [62.3% female, Mean age 52.2±1.22] took part in the study. The demonstration of a relationship between resilience, flexibility, anxiety, and dispositional mindfulness offers the opportunity to reinforce the management of tracheostomy at home, even in emergency periods
A short Mindfulness intervention in telemedicine in severe post-COVID-19 patients
No full textThe present pilot randomised controlled trial compared the impact of a Mindfulness-based brief intervention conducted in telemedicine (n = 20) for a period of 5-6 sessions of 45 minutes each, for a total commitment of 3 weeks, to a wait-list control (n = 20), involving people who have been previously tested positive for COVID-19, admitted to intensive care or reanimation and subsequently in respiratory rehabilitation following negativization. The General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), Impact of Event Scale (IES), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), State Shame and Guilt Scale-8, Peritraumatic Perceptions of Fear and life threat, Psychological General Well-being Index (PGWBI), respiratory functions, oxygen saturation, haemogasanalysis were detected at baseline, 3 weeks, and 3 months. Semi-structured interviews conducted according to the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach detected the participants' emotional experiences, expectations, and beliefs about their experience of illness. This study showed the potential of an affordable and widely accessible Mindfulness-based brief intervention in clinical practice, offering a view of hospital-territory continuity following the acute phase of COVID-19 disease
Essential Oils as Nematicides in Plant Protection—A Review
No full textBy 2030, the European Commission intends to halve chemical pesticide use and its consequent risks. Among pesticides, nematicides are chemical agents used to control parasitic roundworms in agriculture. In recent decades, researchers have been looking for more sustainable alternatives with the same effectiveness but a limited impact on the environment and ecosystems. Essential oils (EOs) are similar bioactive compounds and potential substitutes. Different studies on the use of EOs as nematicides are available in the Scopus database in the scientific literature. These works show a wider exploration of EO effects in vitro than in vivo on different nematode populations. Nevertheless, a review of which EOs have been used on different target nematodes, and how, is still not available. The aim of this paper is to explore the extent of EO testing on nematodes and which of them have nematicidal effects (e.g., mortality, effects on motility, inhibition of egg production). Particularly, the review aims to identify which EOs have been used the most, on which nematodes, and which formulations have been applied. This study provides an overview of the available reports and data to date, downloaded from Scopus, through (a) network maps created by VOSviewer software (version 1.6.8, Nees Jan van Eck and Ludo Waltman, Leiden, The Netherlands) and (b) a systematic analysis of all scientific papers. VOSviewer created maps with keywords derived from co-occurrence analysis to understand the main keywords used and the countries and journals which have published most on the topic, while the systematic analysis investigated all the documents downloaded. The main goal is to offer a comprehensive understanding of the potential use of EOs in agriculture as well as which directions future research should move toward
Costs and opportunities of moving picking activities upstream in distribution networks: A case study from the beverage industry
No full textThe work addresses the reconfiguration of distributionnetworks where order picking activities have a significant impact on the system performance. In particular, the effects of moving picking activities upstream in the network are investigated taking into consideration an actual case study from the beverage industry. The paper presents a comparison of the main cost factors characterizing two different configurations: the "downstream picking configuration" (AS-IS Configuration), with picking activities executed at intermediate facilities, and the "upstream picking configuration" (TO-BE Configuration), where picking activities are performed upstream in the network at a central distribution center.The actual desirability of the shift to the "upstream picking configuration" is shown, and considerations about the opportunity of automating picking operations are given
Social entrepreneurship addressing the challenges and opportunities of international migration: A review of the literature
No full textThe increasing salience of international migration is generating both opportunities and challenges in migrants’ home and host countries, but appears to be a complex phenomenon in light of the multiple individual, organizational, and contextual characteristics and boundaries involved. This complexity has fostered the necessity to experiment with different solutions dealing with migrants’ needs and prospects. Social entrepreneurship seems to be an appropriate tool in this regard, since it applies business logics to provide social solutions and generate impact by contributing to solving grand challenges – such as those linked to international migration. In this paper, we systematically review the growing, but fragmented, academic literature linking the domains of social entrepreneurship and migration. We derive suggestions for future theoretical and empirical research and formulate practical recommendations from a policy and practice perspective
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