1,721,076 research outputs found
Il contributo della street level evaluation per l'analisi delle politiche di contrasto alla povertà
No full textIl saggio ha l'obiettivo di ripercorrere e analizzare criticamente il processo di implementazione di due politiche di contrasto alla povertà, Sia e Rei, a partire dalla costruzione di un disegno di ricerca valutativa ispirato all'approccio innovativo della street level evaluation
A stalactite record of four relative sea-level highstands during the Middle Pleistocene Transition
No full textIce-sheet and sea-level fluctuations during the Early and Middle Pleistocene are as yet poorly understood. A stalactite from a karst cave in North West Sicily (Italy) provides the first evidence of four marine inundations that correspond to relative sea-level highstands at the time of the Middle Pleistocene Transition. The speleothem is located ∼97 m above mean sea level as result of Quaternary uplift. Its section reveals three marine hiatuses and a coral overgrowth that fixes the age of final marine ingression at 1.124 ± 0.2, thus making this speleothem the oldest stalactite with marine hiatuses ever studied to date. Scleractinian coral species witness light-limited conditions and water depth of 20–50 m. Integrating the coral-constrained depth with the geologically constrained uplift rate and an ensemble of RSL scenarios, we find that the age of the last marine ingression most likely coincides with Marine Isotope Stage 35 on the basis of a probabilistic assessment. Our findings are consistent with a significant Antarctic ice-sheet retreat. © 2017 Elsevier Lt
Pratiche partecipative e relazioni solidali nel sostegno a distanza. Il «posto della comunicazione»
No full textIl saggio si inserisce nell’ambito di una ricerca sulla valutazione delle pratiche partecipative e delle attività di engagement dei sostenitori del servizio di sostegno a distanza (Sad) nell’Associazione Famiglie nuove (Afn) onlus. Dalle evidenze empiriche raccolte emerge una dimensione privata di adesione al Sad, che si articola nella diffusione di pratiche simboliche, inedite
e per giunta non convenzionali di partecipazione associativa. Sono proprio queste pratiche, anche connesse al profilo etico e morale dei sostenitori – che si dichiarano diffusori di fiducia e promotori diretti della cultura del Sad – che orientano la riflessione sui principali cambiamenti che hanno investito il significato della «prossimità relazionale» fra sostenitore
e beneficiario del sostegno. Ponendo l’accento sui valori del dono e della reciprocità, il ruolo assunto dalla comunicazione 2.0 appare centrale per «salvaguardare» la qualità delle relazioni tra i diversi pubblici di Afn, e per estendere la loro portata (dimensionale e valoriale) verso le «comunità educanti» dei paesi terzi coinvolte nei progetti Sad
Flooding scenario for four italian coastal plains using three relative sea level rise models
No full textThe coastal areas of the central Mediterranean Sea are sensitive to climate change and the consequent relative sea level rise. Both phenomena may affect densely urbanized and populated areas, causing severe damages. Our maps show the land-marine flooding projections as effects of the expected relative sea level rise for four Italian coastal plains using (i) IPCC AR5 estimations, based on the IPCC RCP 8.5 emission scenarios and (ii) the Rahmstorf 2007 model. Isostatic and tectonic data were added to the global projections to estimate the relative sea changes expected along the coastline by 2100, as well as sea-flooding. The northern Adriatic map shows the study area, extending for about 5500 km2, and is presented at a scale of 1:300,000 with two inset maps at a scale of 1:150,000. The Oristano coastal plain is about 125 km2; the map scale is at 1:60,000 with an inset map scale at 1:33,000. The Cagliari coastal study area extends for 61 km2; the map scale is at 1:60,000 with two inset maps at 1:30,000. The Taranto area extends for 4.2 km2 and is represented at a scale map of 1:30,000, while the three inset maps are at a scale of 1:10,000. © 2017 The Author(s)
Tidal notches in Mediterranean Sea: A comprehensive analysis
No full textRecent works (Evelpidou et al., 2012) suggest that the modern tidal notch is disappearing worldwide due sea level rise over the last century. In order to assess this hypothesis, we measured modern tidal notches in several of sites along the Mediterranean coasts. We report observations on tidal notches cut along carbonate coasts from 73 sites from Italy, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Malta and Spain, plus additional observations carried outside the Mediterranean. At each site, we measured notch width and depth, and we described the characteristics of the biological rim at the base of the notch. We correlated these parameters with wave energy, tide gauge datasets and rock lithology.Our results suggest that, considering 'the development of tidal notches the consequence of midlittoral bioerosion' (as done in Evelpidou et al., 2012) is a simplification that can lead to misleading results, such as stating that notches are disappearing. Important roles in notch formation can be also played by wave action, rate of karst dissolution, salt weathering and wetting and drying cycles. Of course notch formation can be augmented and favoured also by bioerosion which can, in particular cases, be the main process of notch formation and development.Our dataset shows that notches are carved by an ensemble rather than by a single process, both today and in the past, and that it is difficult, if not impossible, to disentangle them and establish which one is prevailing. We therefore show that tidal notches are still forming, challenging the hypothesis that sea level rise has drowned them. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd
Sea-level rise and potential drowning of the Italian coastal plains: Flooding risk scenarios for 2100
No full textWe depict the relative sea-level rise scenarios for the year 2100 from four areas of the Italian peninsula. Our estimates are based on the Rahmstorf (2007) and IPCC-AR5 reports 2013 for the RCP-8.5 scenarios (www.ipcc.ch) of climate change, adjusted for the rates of vertical land movements (isostasy and tectonics). These latter are inferred from the elevation of MIS 5.5 deposits and from late Holocene sea-level indicators, matched against sea-level predictions for the same periods using the glacio-hydro-isostatic model of Lambeck et al. (2011). We focus on a variety of tectonic settings: the subsiding North Adriatic coast (including the Venice lagoon), two tectonically stable Sardinia coastal plains (Oristano and Cagliari), and the slightly uplifting Taranto coastal plain, in Apulia. Maps of flooding scenarios are shown on high-resolution Digital Terrain Models mostly based on Lidar data. The expected relative sea-level rise by 2100 will change dramatically the present-day morphology, potentially flooding up to about 5500 km2 of coastal plains at elevations close to present-day sea level. The subsequent loss of land will impact the environment and local infrastructures, suggesting land planners and decision makers to take into account these scenarios for a cognizant coastal management. Our method developed for the Italian coast can be applied worldwide in other coastal areas expected to be affected by marine ingression due to global climate change. © 201
Underwater landforms that reveal our past life. Shelters, grasslands, forests, river paleobeds. Palaeogeographic reconstruction of the landscape of NW Sicily from 16 ka to the Neolithic
No full textVertical movements in NE Sicily and its offshore. Outcome of tectonic uplift during the last 125 kyr
No full textNewdata in the coastal area between Acquedolci and Patti (northeastern Sicily, Italy) have been collected to
calculate vertical tectonic rates in a key sector between the Kabilian-Calabrian and the Sicilian-Maghrebian
chain. The comparison among marine geology data (multibeam and seismic reflection profiles) on the continental shelf-slope system and the radiocarbon ages on geomorphological markers collected during a coastal survey, provided new stratigraphic, geomorphological and biological data, contributing to the knowledge of the geological evolution of this sector for the last 125 ky.
This coastal area is framed between two main structural features active during the Pleistocene in northern Sicily: the Kabilian-Calabrian Thrust Front (west of Acquedolci) and the Vulcano-Tindari Fault (east of Patti). The occurrence of these structural features, the former compressive, the latter transcurrent,
confirms that the study area is tectonically active and “moves” vertically in differential mode.
Fault systems separate blocks with different uplift rates both in onland and offshore areas. In the Gulf of
Patti, the offshore area is subsiding, while contemporaneously uplift of the mainland can be observed.
The study sector records the same uplift rates both during MIS 5.5 and the Holocene, in contrast to the other areas of Sicily
Comparison of bathymetry estimated from multibeam echosounder and optical data
No full textAccurate bathymetry estimation is crucial for various marine and coastal applications, including resource management and environmental protection. This study presents a comparison of bathymetry estimated using optical satellite imagery, on sandy bottom, versus multibeam bathymetric data. The study area was the Gulf of Sciacca, on the southern coast of Sicily Island (Italy). High-resolution PlanetScope SuperDove satellite images were processed using a simplified version of the original radiative transfer equation from Jain and Miller (1977) was used to estimate water depth.
The model was calibrated and then validated using multibeam data. Multibeam data were acquired using a Reason 8125 multibeam echosounder. Bathymetry was estimated from optical data from the shoreline down to ⁓25 m water depth; while approaching this depth, the reflectance assumed an asymptotic value. The results show a strong correlation between the depths estimated from satellite images and those obtained from multibeam data, with a root mean square error lower than 11% with a confidence interval of 95%. However, some discrepancies were observed in areas in mixed pixels or reflectance surface effects
Alkaline phosphatase survey in pecorino siciliano PDO cheese
Full text linkThe determination of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in cheeses has become an official method for controlling cheeses with a protected designation of origin (PDO), all of which use raw milk. PDO cheeses, characterized by high craftsmanship, usually have an uneven quality. However, for these cheeses, it is necessary to establish ALP values so that they can be defined as a raw milk product. In this study, a dataset with Pecorino Siciliano PDO samples was analyzed to determine ALP both at the core and under the rind. The results showed that there was no significant difference between the different zones in Pecorino cheese. A second dataset of 100 pecorino cheese samples determined that ALP was only at the core of the cheese. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between the ALP values of cheeses produced with raw milk and those produced with pasteurized milk. Furthermore, according to the temperatures, a wide variability of ALP values was observed in the Pecorino Siciliano PDO samples from the core of the cheeses. This was a result of several under scotta whey cooking methodologies adopted by cheesemakers, which do not permit a clear range. Therefore, further investigation is desirable
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