1,720,998 research outputs found
Un metodo per la valutazione della biodiversità su base fitosociologica e faunistica applicata allo studio di un'area collinare del Montefeltro (Provincia di Pesaro-Urbino, Italia centrale).
No full text
ICT diffusion in public administrations and business dynamics: Evidence from Italian municipalities
Full text linkPublic administrations have been adopting Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to transform their internal organization and provide better public services to citizens and firms. However, the external benefits, despite being deemed relevant, have been empirically overlooked. We first explore the relation between ICT diffusion in public administrations and business demography at the municipal level by studying the Italian context. Our results show that ICT diffusion in the PA contributes to significantly reducing the death rate of firms and boosting their turnover rate. The adoption of ICT in the PA also exerts a positive impact on the firm birth rate, although it is not statistically significant. These results shed light on the importance of promoting e-government and framing coherent digital agendas as public instruments for supporting entrepreneurship and regional economic development
Trasformazioni del territorio nel Comune di Rimini attraverso l'analisi diacronica del paesaggio
No full textLand cover changes and impact on ecosystems services. The case study of Rimini (Italy)
No full textVengono presentati i risultati di un’analisi diacronica di paesaggio effettuata mediante il confronto fra carte di uso del suolo. L’area di studio è il comune di Rimini e il periodo di indagine (1955-2003) è significativo dei principali cambiamenti avvenuti nei paesaggi del Mediterraneo negli ultimi 60 anni. Scopo dell’indagine è valutare intensità, pattern e gradiente di tali cambiamenti nonché valutare la perdita di servizi ecosistemici. Nel caso in esame, solo il 29% del paesaggio ha conservato i suoi caratteri iniziali e le trasformazioni sono state particolarmente intense nel periodo 1955-1976. L’analisi diacronica, unitamente alla valutazione dei servizi ecosistemici, può fornire dati utili per una futura pianificazione sostenibile del territorio in esam
Territori sostenibili e resilienti: la prospettiva dei servizi ecosistemici
Full text linkGli ecosistemi di un territorio,
attraverso l’erogazione dei servizi
ecosistemici (SE), forniscono un
supporto insostituibile alla qualità
di vita dei suoi abitanti e i fattori
di base per uno sviluppo economico
durevole. Tali servizi costituiscono
il capitale naturale del territorio ma
anche una sorta di assicurazione
nei confronti di eventi estremi.
Qui si presentano i primi risultati
di un metodo speditivo originale.
Emerge che ogni anno gli ecosistemi
italiani erogano beni e utilità
paragonabili (per difetto) a 71,3
mld di euro. Più rilevante è la
dinamica di questi valori: in soli
10 anni alcune province sembrano
perdere più del 3% del valore
totale e fi no al 18%, considerando
specifi ci SE. La prospettiva dei
SE integrata nella valutazione e
pianifi cazione territoriale potrebbe
supportare strategie di sviluppo più
consapevoli dei processi ecologici e
più lungimirant
Bioaccumulation of heavy elements by Armadillidium vulgare (Crustacea, Isopoda) exposed to fallout of a municipal solid waste landfill
No full textThis paper reports the response of isopods exposed to fallout of a municipal solid waste landfill located in
central Italy. Soil samples and specimens of Armadillidium vulgare were collected at different distances
from the landfill and analyzed to determine the concentrations of heavy elements such as As, Cd, Co, Cr,
Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, V and Zn. The isopod analysis was performed on unpurged and purged specimens.
Analytical data indicate that the soil contents of heavy elements were quite uniform and within the
respective local geochemical background. Slight enrichments of Cu and Pb were found in some soils
collected within the solid waste. Purged isopods showed an accumulation of As, Co, Cr, Ni, Sb and V whose
body levels decreased as the distance from the landfill increased. Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations in
purged specimens were rather uniform and no significant variation trend occurred. This result probably
was due to the fact that the isopods are provided with physiological mechanisms of regulation for these
heavy elements. Analytical data also indicate the ability of A. vulgare to adsorb differently the heavy
elements according to the following order: As > Co > Ni > Pb > V. The contents of heavy elements in
unpurged specimens were higher than in purged ones. This
finding suggested that the defecation has
marked effects on the tissue levels of heavy elements in isopods. This study indicates that the isopods
provide useful information about environmental quality in areas characterized by low and discontinuous
emission of heavy elements and their low accumulation in soil
Integrated approach for the analysis of ecosystems at risk: a case study in a waste landfill
No full textWaste landfills are currently the most widely used method to dispose municipal waste, mainly in highly
populated cities. Landfills can be a source of a large number of toxicant elements and compounds diffuse through air
fallout or leachate release. Some research has been shown that landfills spreads a large number of compounds that,
since industrial revolution, are increasingly accumulated in the soil and in the litter and that in some situations, may
be available for the species even at considerable distances from the source (Gagnon and Saulnier, 2003).
There are many studies on the chemical characterization of leachate and air but they represent only the first
step for a meaningful environmental impact evaluation. For these reasons one of the most important activities
concerning the management of a municipal waste landfill regards the control and environmental monitoring aimed to
safeguard both of the structural aspects of the plant (i.e., efficiency) both the environmental quality of the site.
Quantification of heavy elements levels in soil and air cannot generate sufficient information on impact
because the absolute metal concentration alone does not reflect the degree to which these compounds affect the
environment (Cheung et al., 1993). Data on the bioaccumulation and effects of leachate on wild populations are
essential to assess the environmental impact of these disposal sites.
In this paper we propose an evaluation method that brings together biomonitoring techniques, morphometric
measurements (fluctuating asymmetry), cytometric tests on cells of the hepatopancreas of Armadillidium vulgare
(Isopoda, Crustacea, Latreille, 1804) and quantitative analysis of lichens; an integrated approach that can provide
information about the state of health of the ecosystem before it gets evident alteration
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
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