1,721,054 research outputs found
Varietà da conservazione in Italia: lo stato dell’arte per le specie orticole
No full textThe “conservation varieties” definition was introduced in Europe on 14 December 1998 by Commission Directive 1998/95/EC, as a new type of agricultural varieties that you can market in Europe in order to preserve the plant genetic resources favoring the marketing of their seeds. After an introduction on the origin, meaning and the value of biodiversity, local varieties and conservation varieties, this review reports that 102 conservation varieties are registered in the European Common Catalogue of varieties of vegetable species. Only 12 out of the 28 EU Countries have registered conservation varieties in the Common Catalogue: Italy, Spain, Croatia, Portugal, Romania, France, Slovenia, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Latvia and Hungary. Italy boasts the highest number of registered varieties, although only three Italian Regions have registered conservation varieties of vegetable species in the Common Catalogue: Tuscany (21), Piedmont (8) and Lombardy (3). For each registered variety in the Italian conservation register, the main parameters set by the Commission Directives are reported: area of origin, the total area that can be cultivated, the total area used for seed production, and the annual quantitative limits for the production of seed.
The Lombardy Region case study shows how it is possible to simplify the procedure for the submission and evaluation of requests to register potential conservation varieties in the specific section of the National Register of varieties of agricultural and vegetable species. Instead, the Apulia Region case study emphasizes the role of growing and marketing seeds of conservation varieties in order to preserve plant genetic resources. Despite having recently recovered 122 local vegetable varieties, and the specific actions taken by the Regional Administration to protect and valorize the plant genetic resources, the Apulia register for conservation varieties has not been yet established, neither is for the procedure for the submission and the evaluation of requests to register conservation varieties in the National Register, both foreseen by the regional law 2013/39 (“Protection of indigenous genetic resources of agricultural, forestry and livestock”). This review also examines the close relationship between the traditional agrifood products (products with a strong reputation and close relationship with the territory) and conservation varieties, because often the traditional agrifood products are local varieties or have these varieties as a main component or ingredient. On this basis, the Authors recommend the development of information and communication campaigns to help raise awareness about traditional agrifood products and conservation varieties among consumers, and to foster their interest in implementing the virtuous circle of “if you eat me, you preserve me”.Dopo un’introduzione sull’origine, il significato e il valore di biodiversità, varietà locali e varietà da conservazione, la rassegna evidenzia che sono 102 le varietà da conservazione iscritte nel Catalogo Comune Europeo delle varietà delle specie di ortaggi. L’Italia è il Paese che vanta il numero maggiore di varietà iscritte, appannaggio di tre regioni italiane: Toscana (21), Piemonte (8) e Lombardia (3). Vengono presentati due casi studio, uno di successo (Regione Lombardia), che descrive la procedura adottata per l’iscrizione nel Registro Nazionale, e l’altro di prospettiva (Regione Puglia), e lo stretto rapporto che esiste tra i prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali e le varietà da conservazione
The diluvium aquarum: geologic evidence and geoarchaeological constrains of extreme floods in northern Italy during early Middle Ages
No full textBetween the second part of the sixth century and the seventh century, many regions of Europe have been characterized by dramatic changes in the hydrographic setting, probably related to a strong cooling phase (Büntgen et al., 2016; Helama et al., 2017). In the Mediterranean region the period following the collapse of the Roman Empire is described by many authors as an interval characterized by important alluvial processes (e.g. floods, river avulsions and alluvial aggradation in the mountain valleys), strongly contrasting with the general geomorphological stability of Roman Age and Late Antiquity. Some important chronicles of early Middle Ages report the occurrence of very high-magnitude floods, often described by ancient historians as diluvium (deluge), contributing to create a sort of myth around an out-of-scale event or a longer meteo-climatic phase (Cremonini et al., 2013).
In the framework of the INQUA project “EX-AQUA: Palaeohydrological Extreme Events, evidence and archives” (1623P), a review of the traces of early Medieval floods occurred in Northern Italy was carried out. The study considered new information and critically re-analyses previous available data, supplied by geomorphological, stratigraphic and geoarchaeological evidence, ancient documents and written sources.
In Northern Italy a fast and strong sedimentary phase occurred between 5th and 9th century AD, leading many large Alpine rivers to avulse. In the system of Tagliamento, thanks to recent geoarchaeological excavations and geochronological analyses, a major extreme event is clearly constrained between the second half of the 6th and the first part of the 7th century, when the river avulsed and destroyed the ancient city of Concordia Sagittaria (Fontana et al., 2019). This episode overlaps with the one reported by the Lombard historian Paolo Diacono, dated to 589 AD, which strongly damaged Verona and, downstream of this city, possibly triggered the avulsion phase of Adige River near the so-called “Rotta della Cucca”. Important fluvial changes affected also the Piave and Livenza rivers, while an avulsion channel of Brenta River started to form in the 6th century AD.
Notwithstanding, for some minor alluvial systems the detailed chronology supported by archaeological and radiocarbon chronology allows to detect the existence of earlier flooding units, formed since the 2nd and 3rd century AD. Recent data in the Alpine valley of Adige River, around the city of Trento, point to the occurrence of some important flood events in the alluvial cones of the major tributary creeks already during the 3rd century AD. However, in the same area the floor of Adige valley experienced a vertical aggradation only since the 4th and 5th century AD, with an enhanced rate of deposition between 6th and 10th century AD. A rather comparable chronology characterizes part of the alluvial cones of the main Apennine streams flowing towards the Po Plain (e.g. near Modena), which aggraded during early Medieval, but this trend started already in the 3rd century AD (Cremonini et al., 2013).
This research supports new data for comparing the palaeoflood record of early Middle Ages with palaeoclimatic proxies, with the aim of distinguishing global forcing factors from regional constrains and anthropogenic disturbance.
Büntgen et al. (2016) – Cooling and societal change during the Late Antique Little Ice Age from 536 to around 660 AD. Nature Geoscience 9, 231–237.
Helama S., Jones P., Briffa K. (2017) - Dark Ages Cold Period: a literature review and directions for future research. Holocene 27, 1600–1606.
Cremonini S., Labate D., Curina R. (2013) - The late-antiquity environmental crisis in Emilia region (Po river plain, Northern Italy): Geoarchaeological evidence and paleoclimatic considerations. Quaternary International, 316, 162.178.
Fontana A., Frassine M., Ronchi L. (2019) - Geomorphological and Geoarchaeological Evidence of the Medieval Deluge in the Tagliamento River (NE Italy). In: Herget J., Fontana A. (Eds), Palaeohydrology, Traces, Tracks and Trails of Extreme Events. Springer, 97-116
Theory of mind and peer relationships: The role of social anxiety
No full textRecent research has shown that individual differences in theory of mind (ToM) during middle childhood are linked with individual differences in children's peer relationships. The present longitudinal study investigated this association more deeply, exploring the potential mediating role played by children's social anxiety. We tested a group of 66 children (11.5 years old at Time 1) three times over one year after their transition to secondary school. Over and above language, SES and stability in individual differences, ToM performance shortly after starting secondary school (Time 1) predicted higher peer acceptance, as well as lower peer rejection, one year later (Time 3) via lower levels of social anxiety over time (Time 2). This study extends our knowledge about the links between social understanding and interpersonal relations in middle childhood. The results suggest that ToM may play an important role in children's adjustment when confronting new social contexts
Mind what teacher says: Teachers’ propensity for mental-state language and children's theory of mind in middle childhood
No full textThis study examined the link between theory of mind (ToM) in middle childhood and teachers’ propensity for mental-state language and self-reported conversational-instruction strategies. Multilevel analyses on 430 Italian children (221 girls, Mage = 9.34 years, SD =.63, Range: 7.95–11.43 years) from 27 primary-school classrooms and their teachers showed that: (i) there were striking between-classroom differences in children's ToM; (ii) teachers’ propensity for mental-state language (β =.14) and self-reported conversational-instruction strategies (β =.16) were uniquely associated with pupils’ ToM even when child-related (i.e., age, verbal ability, number of siblings and SES) and teacher-related variables (i.e., ToM, verbal ability and years of experience) were controlled; and (iii) the association between self-reported conversational-instruction strategies and ToM was significant in older children and smaller classrooms. These findings extend socio-cultural accounts of ToM by showing a developmental continuity of environmental effects on children's ToM
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
The interplay of fluvial and marine processes as recorded in the post-LGM Incised Valleys of Tagliamento and Piave rivers (NE Italy)
No full textThe rivers fed by the southern Alps experienced strong entrenching when local deglaciation began, right after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This erosive phase was induced by the general sediment starvation of the fluvial systems that followed the retreat of the Alpine glaciers, and it affected most of the southern Alpine rivers. The major rivers generated some Incised Valleys (IVs) even in the distal sector of the Venetian-Friulian Plain, but the depositional activity occurred during mid and late Holocene left almost no evidence of these features in the modern landscape. However, their infilling recorded the gradual shift from fluvial to tidal-influenced environments (limans/estuaries).
We focused our analysis on the IVs in the distal portion of the Piave and Tagliamento megafans, in a study area of 800 km2 between these rivers’ present courses. A parallel study is also investigating the fluvial incisions of the inner Northern Adriatic shelf.
The current dataset comprises 3500 shallow stratigraphic cores, DTMs from Lidar altimetry and a considerable number of radiocarbon dates. These data were used to investigate the infilling stratigraphy, planform geometries and networks of the IVs. Thanks to the high density and quality of the subsoil investigations, in some areas it was possible to recognize complex patterns of larger main channel incisions, joined by smaller tributary scours. The latter are interpreted as headward cutting gullies, fed from rainfall and groundwater of the dissected megafan surface.
Five main IVs, with a length of up to 20 km upstream of the present coast, have been analysed. These features have a maximum width of 2 km and they can reach a depth of 30 m below the LGM top. The basal contact is formed by a gravelly fluvial unit, some 5-10 meters thick, that fines upward. It marks width-constrained braided channels fed by post-LGM Alpine melt waters, which continued to function in incised position until the early Holocene. The upper filling, formed in the Middle and Late Holocene during transgression and high stand, is more differentiated and spatially variable. It represents the legacy of shifting fluvial inputs (avulsing channels), differences in relative elevations associated to differences in timing and reach of marine ingression, and variable degrees of sheltering as the barrier-lagoon coastal system developed.
As a result, two main evolutional trajectories can be reconstructed for the upper part of the IV infilling: i) a lagoon/tidal dominated; ii) a fluvial dominated (predominant only in one of the five analysed infillings). The first is characterized by fine and laminated deposits, crossed by coarser sandy tidal channel units and intercalated by peaty beds. The second is marked by a gentler shift from the gravelly bottom to a laminated sandy unit, which eventually shifts to the Holocene lagoon deposits.
Detailed sedimentary study of the IVs network, dimensions and basal infill, provides a rare opportunity to study the river system functioning in the period from ca. 19 to 9 ka BP, which in the rest of the study area marks a depositional hiatus. Detailed palaeogeographical study of the upper infill of the IVs can contribute to improving Holocene relative sea-level rise reconstructions for the Northern Adriatic, besides understanding river mouth response to base level rise
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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