611 research outputs found
Mean movements and strategy in sport climbing : determinant variables and performance factors
No full textIntroduction
Climbing, in all its disciplines, is a emergent sport with a increasing number of athletes involved in competition. The major discipline is the leading, characterized by strength and endurance movements on overhanging artificial structures. Score depends on the height reached by athletes. The ascent needs physical, technical and interpretation ability. Increasing performances and specializations need well specified training programs but, at the moment, this kind of sports lacks in scientific studies about kinematics variables and movement strategy. The aim of this study is to collect preliminary kinematics data to identify mean movements and strategy in sport climbing and to verify if it’s possible to find determinant variables and performance factors.
Methods
Data of kinematics variables were extracted from a video analysis of 8 female athletes who participated at 2007 Lombardia Regional Cup match. The athletes (20±4 years old, 49±5 kg, 162±4 cm) involved in this study are all well experienced climbers with at least 2 years of competition participation. Following variables were collected: total time, number of holds, speed (mean time for hold), number and time of rests, number and time of clipping, number of hands and feet movements, contraction type (concentric or isometric) time per holds, support type (on holds or on structure) time, technical movements (frontal, lateral, etc) used. All these variables were extrapolated by the digital video analysis frame per frame with “final cut pro” software. Data were imported in excel file format
witch ensures simple charts vision and different manipulations to identify differences among athletes on the same route or between different route climbed by one athletes. For each athlete, data were analyzed on the entire height climbed. For interindividual analysis, data were compared normalizing the minimum height reached among all climbers. These information were related with the difficulties of any segments of the routes.
Results
The 2 matches analyzed were characterized by overhanging structures where a lot of endurance movements interrupted by two bouldery sections with strength and technical needing. In both competitions the best results were reached by the fastest athletes with less per cent time spent in concentric phases and clipping. We see that the best athletes are more time in double feet support than the worst ones, and use less movements to reach the same height. Different climbing styles (dominant movements and rhythms) demonstrate to be efficacy at the same way. Comparison between the 2 routes climbed by the same athletes shows that, when it is possible, they choice the climbing style according to their technical and conditioning characteristics.
Discussion
It seems that technical and conditional characteristics are the major variables and their influence is dominant on kinematics data. Total climbing time and technical movements choice are not statistically correlated with results because they depend by individual muscular characteristics, specific technique awareness and routes interpretation. The variables related with results are: clipping time, concentric phase time, mean holding time, movements number and support type time. Finally this analysis method can help to have a better view of athletes profile and to find out weakness points in respect of the racing routes. Interpretation of kinematics data related with physiological aspects is the way to discover determinant results factors and to improve training technique
Mapping deadmalls landscape: how VGI support research and actions on abandoned retail heritage
No full textOver the last two decades, Italy experimented on one hand a deep transformation in retail sector, due to a process of deregulation, which stimulated the growing of retail chains, the attraction of foreign capitals and the modernization of retail networks, and, on the other hand, the impacts of the economic crisis, which affect consumption practices and users’ behaviours. The combination of these factors and the consequent evolution - in number, dimensions and formats - of retail poles (Brunetta & Morandi, 2009) generated a strong territorial competition for urban/metropolitan areas with a progressive market saturation that, amongst other effects, accelerates the obsolescence of older settlements.
In U.S., similar trends caused a selective process for a number of big box stores and shopping malls, and in several cases, they result in the appearance of deadmalls and ghostboxes. Italy is on the first phase of this process, where the number of these “retail greyfields” is increasing and where scholars and public actors are becoming aware of their territorial presence that, due to their mass and landscape impacts represent a sort of landmarks of retail abandon (Cavoto, 2014). The group of Italian deadmalls is composed by an heterogeneous set of elements, where together with timeworn settlements, also recent structures appear, sometime unfinished or just partially completed. They all belong to an increasing stock but is difficult to provide reliable data at regional or national scale.
In recent times, several authors, described those new italian landscapes of economic desertification (Turri, 2000; Cavoto, 2014; Inti, Cantaluppi, Persichino, 2014; Minelli, 2015). Unfortunately, they provide just fragmentary descriptions and not interpretative readings of the phenomenon. One of the cause could be the lack of a shared knowledge, based on exhaustive information and institutional data. This deficit imposes a reflection about the role of alternative databases based on alternative sources in the research about retail dismantling and depletion of local economic systems.
The aim of this contribution is reflecting on the opportunities related with the involvement of Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) on this issue (Goodchild, 2007), especially when related with the platform OpenStreetMap (OSM) and presenting an original methodology of spatial analysis and territorial monitoring. This approach, developed within the URB&COM Lab of Politecnico di Milano is a useful tool for the collection and the classification of data, and is especially effective for the stock of closed, abandoned or dismantled structures. The methodology allows to set up a shared geography of dismantled retail activities both in urban and suburban contexts, and has been the starting point for several recent researches related with the monitoring of urban retail systems (Limonta and Paris, 2016).
References
Cavoto G. (2014), Demalling. Una risposta alla dismissione commerciale, Maggioli Editore, Rimini.
Goodchild M.F., (2007), Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography. GeoJournal, 69:4, pp. 211-221
Inti I., Cantaluppi G., Persichino M. (2014), Temporiuso : manuale per il riuso temporaneo di spazi in abbandono, in Italia, Altra economia, Milano
Limonta G., Paris M. (2016), Descrivere e monitorare il commercio urbano. UDM - Urban Design Magazine, 4, pp. 11-17
Minelli F. (2015), Atlante dei classici padani, Krisis Publishing, Brescia.
Turri E. (2000), La megalopoli padana, Marsilio, Venezia
First results on Heteroptera (Hemiptera) of dry grassland in Malpaga-Basella Nature Reserve (Italy)
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First Results on Heteroptera (Hemiptera) of Dry Grassland in Malpaga-Basella Nature Reserve (Italy)
by Lidia Limonta
1,* [ORCID] , Paolo Gaini
2 and Paride Dioli
3 [ORCID]
1
Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano, MI, Italy
2
Via Oratorio 2, 24050 Cavernago, BG, Italy
3
Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano, Corso Venezia 55, 20121 Milano, MI, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Diversity 2022, 14(11), 981; https://doi.org/10.3390/d14110981
Received: 15 September 2022 / Revised: 4 November 2022 / Accepted: 9 November 2022 / Published: 15 November 2022
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Invertebrate Diversity in Fragmented Habitats)
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Abstract
The Nature Reserve Malpaga-Basella, located along the Serio River in Lombardy, was recently established in 2017. It is interesting as it presents plant species typical in dry grassland habitats, not present in the surrounding area. In this study, Heteroptera were surveyed in the Nature Reserve and in a bordering giant Miscanthus crop in 2019. The biodiversity of the reserve was well characterized by the presence of species linked to arid environments with steppe or Mediterranean characteristics, like Antheminia lunulata. Four species new for Lombardy were collected, Lygus italicus, Drymus pilipes, Ortholomus punctipennis, and Arenocoris waltlii. Giant Miscanthus hosted only a few ubiquitous species, also collected in the Nature Reserve
Provenance study of Bengal Fan turbidites (IODP Expeditions 353-354) : tectonic and climatic implications - M. Limonta, A. Resentini, E. Garzanti
No full textProvenance study of Bengal Fan turbidites (IODP Expeditions 353-354) : tectonic and climatic implications - M. Limonta, A. Resentini, E. Garzanti</p
Addensamenti di attività economiche nei contesti urbani consolidati: metodi d’indagine, geografie e dinamiche evolutive nel caso del centro storico di Parma
No full textLe trasformazioni spaziali, economiche e sociali legate a nuovi stili di vita e forme dell’abitare inedite, ma anche alle nuove modalità di produzione, consumo e spostamento nelle città, influenzano i sistemi d’offerta di funzioni economiche urbane (commercio, servizi, ricettività, somministrazione, nuove produzioni urbane, ecc.) e, di conseguenza, anche la qualità dell’esperienza di chi abita e si serve di queste attività. Nel presente articolo si propone una riflessione sulle modalità di lettura dei sistemi d’offerta e delle dinamiche che li interessano come primo strumento nella formulazione di politiche pubbliche innovative, poiché basate su di un approccio intersettoriale.
L’obiettivo di questo contributo è quello di (a.) indagare la distribuzione spaziale ed i principi insediativi dei sistemi d’offerta di funzioni economiche negli ambiti in cui si è mantenuta o, addirittura, si è rafforzata l’attrattività urbana per abitanti, turisti ed operatori economici e di (b.) identificare alcuni processi in atto (rafforzamento, sostituzione funzionale, specializzazione, indebolimento-desertificazione) e (c.) formulare a partire da queste letture una serie di politiche situate ed integrate. Per raggiungere questi obiettivi, si è scelto di usare come caso studio il centro storico della città di Parma e, a partire dalla sua analisi, riconoscere alcuni spunti e temi emergenti per una governance pubblica degli addensamenti di attività economiche nei contesti urbani consolidati
Effect of particle size of soft wheat flour on the development of Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lepidoptera : Pyralidae)
No full textThe effect of soft wheat flours, characterized by different particle size, protein and starch content, on the development of Ephestia kuehniella was studied. The attractiveness of the Substrata to first and third instar larvae was also considered.
The different protein content of the flours did not significantly affect the development of E. kuehniella, nor did it affect the ability of the flours to attract larvae. In tests with soft wheat flours. with the same nutritional value but different particle size, the highest mean number of adults and the shortest developmental period were recorded on samples with greatest particle size (250-419 mu m). In order to test the attractiveness of soft wheat flour to larvae, a one-way olfactometer was used. There were no significant differences observed in the number of first and third instar larvae found on flours with different protein composition and particle size. Larvae of this species show limited mobility, in fact few individuals of either instar can reach the flour from a distance of 2 m. No larvae of either instar contacted the different substrata from a distance of 2.5 m
Record of Pheidole megacephala (F.), Pheidole nodus and Tetramorium bicarinatum Nylander, tropical species, in nursery imported plants
No full textOSM come strumento di monitoraggio dei sistemi commerciali urbani
No full textIl contributo proposto racchiude alcune riflessioni a partire da due recenti esperienze di ricerca sviluppate dal laboratorio URB&COM del Politecnico di Milano (I) a supporto dei Comuni di Bergamo e Parma e riguardanti: (i.) metodologie di indagine e descrizione dei sistemi commerciali urbani e (ii.) sperimentazione di un protocollo di aggiornamento dei dati raccolti attraverso OpenStreetMap (OSM) utile al monitoraggio delle dinamiche in corso e dell’incidenza delle politiche attive promosse dell’attore pubblico
Polarità commerciali in Lombardia: tendenze evolutive e geografie a supporto della governance territoriale
No full textIl settore della distribuzione commerciale in Italia è segnato negli ultimi anni da una serie di trasformazioni che hanno influenzato l’assetto del mercato nazionale. Il sistema d’offerta risultante non è omogeneamente distribuito nel territorio e uno degli elementi caratterizzanti è la presenza di “polarità commerciali” che si differenziano per dinamismo, attrattività e rilevanza degli impatti a scala sovralocale.
L’obiettivo di questo contributo è quello di evidenziare l’insieme degli “effetti territoriali” delle Grandi Strutture di Vendita (GSV) con un approfondimento particolare per le “polarità commerciali pianificate”, usando come caso di studio il contesto regionale della Lombardia anche attraverso gli esiti di alcune recenti esperienze di ricerca curate dal Laboratorio Urb&Com del Politecnico di Milano, Dipartimento di Architettura e Studi Urbani.
Per farlo sono stati elaborati dati complessi relativi alle polarità pianificate e alla loro competizione per il presidio del mercato lombardo, identificando le pratiche insediative ricorrenti di queste strutture e i processi di adattamento al conteste regionale di strategie globali sviluppate dagli operatori.
Questo approfondimento si è dimostrato un fertile campo di esplorazione, che ha permesso (a.) di definire una metodologia originale di studio delle Grandi Strutture di Vendita e, al contempo, (b.) di elaborare un quadro originale ed aggiornato della situazione lombarda, contributo di conoscenza utile a supportare le future politiche regionali sul tema e le programmazioni settoriali ad esso collegate (attività economiche, mobilità, lavoro, territorio, ecc.).Over the last two decades, the retail sector in Italy suffered a set of transformations that changed the national market. The resulting retail network is not homogeneously distributed over the national space and the presence of a variety of "retail polarities" – different in dynamism, appeal to users and spatial impacts – marks the offer.
This contribution is aimed at focusing the impacts of the Grandi Strutture di Vendita (GSV), a typology of retail structures defined by Italian law that gathers together shopping malls, retail parks and large specialty stores. These are intended as "planned retail polarities" because developers need local and regional authorizations in their settlement process. Using the Lombardy Region as a case study and presenting the outcomes of a recent research developed by Urb&Com Lab research team, we propose a reading of several global trends, a new map of these structures and a critical interpretation of these information.
Results of this exploration allowed us (a.) to define an original methodology to study GSVs and, at the same time, (b.) to provide an original and updated map of regional situation. This map could contribute to future regional policies on this topic and, more in general, to integrate the current sectoral view on retail to a wider regional agenda (that involve economy, mobility, labor market, sustainability, etc.)
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