Analisi qualitativa e quantitativa delle variazioni areali e volumetriche dei ghiacciai della Val Martello (Gruppo dell'Ortles Cevedale) dalla Piccola Età Glaciale ad oggi.

Abstract Glaciers are a very important global climate change indicator and can be studied to understand ice and water processes acting on the Earth surface. In this thesis glaciers situated in Val Martello have been analyzed for reconstructing their evolution and recent areal and volumetric. The time interval here considered ranges from the Little Ice Age (1850 AD) to 2012 AD. We applied an indirect methodology and is primarily based on the analysis of cartographic documents and aerophotographs from the end of the 19th Century to the present, integrated with a collection of photographs conservate in the historic archive of Italian Glaciological Committee (Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, CGI). The Little Ice Age limit derived from previously conducted field activity integrated by photointerpretative analysis. In Val Martello there are twenty-six glaciers described in the "Catasto dei Ghiacciai Italiani" of CGI -CNR in 1962, but in 2012 remain only half of that. The reconstructed evolutionary trend shows a progressive and generalized reduction of glacial surfaces and volumes, with some positive advances around the ‘20s and the ‘80s; since the mid ‘90s the trend is markedly negative. Data collected in this thesis represent an update of existing data and the constructed database should be used for future updates of extension of glaciers in Val Martello, in order to upgrade an Italian glaciers cadaster over time. This work represent a basic tool for monitoring global changes, for a correct and conscious management of renewable resources located in the Alps, for an evaluation of geomorphological hazard in high mountain area and should represent a basic document to be used for proper planning

Progress and status of APEmille

We report on the progress and status of the APEmille project: a SIMD parallel computer with a peak performance in the TeraFlops range which is now in an advanced development phase. We discuss the hardware and software architecture, and present some performance estimates for Lattice Gauge Theory (LGT) applications.Comment: Talk presented at LATTICE97, 3 pages, Late

Live Donor Partial Hepatectomy for Liver Transplantation: Is There a Learning Curve?

Background: Donor safety is the first priority in living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Objective: To determine the characteristics and outcome of live liver donors who underwent donor hepatectomy from January, 1997 to May, 2007 at Massachusetts General Hospital. Methods: 30 patients underwent LDLT between January, 1997 and May, 2007 at our institution. Results: The type of graft was the right lobe (segments 5-8) in 14, left lobe (segments 2-4) in 4, and left lateral sector (segments 2 and 3) in 12 patients. The mean donor age was 36 (range: 26-57) years. The mean follow-up was 48 (range: 18-120) months. No deaths occurred. Overall, 8 (26.6%) patients experienced a total of 14 post-operative complications. Donor complications based on graft type were as follows: left lateral sector (16.7%), left lobe (25%), and right lobe (35.7%). The experience was divided into two periods 1997-2001 (n=15) and 2002-2007 (n=15). Overall complications during 2 periods were 40% and 13.3%, respectively (p<0.001). The incidence of grade III complication also significantly decreased; 66.7% vs 33.3% (p<0.01). Conclusion: Partial hepatectomy in living donors has a learning curve which appears to be approximately 15 cases. This learning curve is not restricted to the surgeons performing the procedure but involves all aspects of patient care

Induction with Rabbit Antithymocyte Globulin following Orthotopic Liver Transplantation for Hepatitis C

Background: Hepatitis C (HCV) is the most common indication for liver transplantation in the US. Objective: Since steroids are the major stimulus of viral replication, we postulated that steroid-free immunosuppression might be a safer approach. Methods: From January 1995 to October 2002, we used steroid plus calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) immunosuppression after liver transplantation for HCV (steroid group, n=81). From October 2002 to June 2007, rabbit antithymocyte globulin (RATG) induction, followed by CNI and azathioprine (RATG group, n=73) was utilized. Results: There were no differences in 1- and 3-year patient/allograft survival rates. The incidence of acute rejection rate (19% vs. 28%), of biopsy-proven HCV recurrence (70% vs. 75%), and chronic rejection (6% vs. 9%) were comparable. The mean time to develop recurrent HCV was significantly longer in the RATG group (16.2 vs. 9.2 months, p=0.008). The incidence of severe portal fibrosis appears to be lower in RATG group compared to the steroid group; 14% vs. 4% (p=0.07). Conclusions: RATG induction is safe and effective after liver transplantation for HCV, but has no impact on the incidence of HCV recurrence and patient/allograft survival. However, a significant delay in time to HCV recurrence and a trend toward less rejection and portal fibrosis was observed

Insecticide resistance in Italian populations of Tribolium flour beetles

As a consequence of the widespread use of chemical insecticides in the control of insect pests in grain warehouses and in the food industry, insecticide resistance in grain insect pests has greatly increased all over the world. The goal of this work was to investigate insecticide resistance levels in Italian populations of Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) and Tribolium confusum du Val collected in grain and food storage facilities of 18 different localities. Six contact insecticides were tested on seven populations of the red flour beetle and on eleven populations of the confused flour beetle. Topical application bioassays were carried out on adults. Dose-mortality lines were estimated to determine the resistance ratios for each insecticide and population. A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed on a data matrix describing the pattern of occurrence of the RR values of each insecticide across the set of data provided by 18 different sites. In both species, the slopes of LD-lines range within a rather narrow interval with respect to susceptible strains, while the highest RR value can be observed in a population of the confused flour beetle from Molise assayed with deltamethrin. The distribution of the experimental points in the PCA graph suggests that T. castaneum populations were generally more susceptible to malathion, diazinon and pirethrins than the T. confusum populations. RR values obtained in bioassays suggest that insecticide resistance is not a widespread problem in Italian strains of T. castaneum and T. confusum, but there are populations in which the phenomenon exists. An extended monitoring activity could, therefore, be crucially important in adopting proper control measures for pest management

La Médiation culturelle : cinquième roue du carrosse ?(sous la dir. d’Elisabeth Caillet, Patrice Chazottes, Fanny Serain, François Vaysse)

Paru récemment aux éditions L’Harmattan, l’ouvrage présente un corpus non négligeable de contributions autour de la question de la médiation culturelle, apportant ainsi un éclairage sur son évolution tout en proposant un état des lieux actuel de la question. Rédigé sous la direction de Patrice Chazottes, Elisabeth Caillet, Fanny Serain et François Vaysse, le livre, nécessaire à bien des égards, est constitué de cinq grandes parties, qui sont elles-mêmes nourries d’analyses, de points de vue h..

Miquel Barcelo : Sol y Sombra

Si Miquel Barceló est considéré comme l’une des figures majeures de l’art contemporain, c’est que son œuvre est déroutante tant par la capacité de renouvellement dont elle a fait preuve depuis plusieurs décennies que par le foisonnement des voies d’expression picturale et plastique qu’elle a su engendrer. Construite au fil des années à travers les techniques du dessin, de l’aquarelle et de la peinture, l’œuvre protéiforme de l’artiste espagnol s’est prolongée à travers différents médiums comm..

Caractérisations d'un jet de plasma froid d'hélium à pression atmosphérique

Les jets de plasma froid à la pression atmosphérique connaissent un réel engouement dans de nombreux domaines du biomédical depuis la dernière décennie. Dans les différentes applications de ces jets, le plasma généré est amené à interagir avec de nombreux types de surfaces. Les jets de plasma ont une influence sur les surfaces traitées, mais il est maintenant connu que les surfaces traitées influencent également le plasma en fonction de leurs caractéristiques. Le travail mené dans cette thèse a donc pour but de caractériser un jet de plasma froid d'hélium à la pression atmosphérique en contact avec trois types de surfaces (diélectrique, métallique et eau ultrapure) au moyen de différents diagnostics électriques et optiques afin de comprendre l'influence de la nature des surfaces sur les propriétés physiques du plasma et les espèces chimiques générées. La première partie de cette thèse s'intéresse à l'étude de l'influence des surfaces sur le jet de plasma. Différents paramètres sont étudiés, tels que la nature de la surface exposée, le débit de gaz, la distance entre la sortie du dispositif et la surface exposée ou encore la composition du gaz plasmagène. Pour ce faire, nous avons utilisé dans un premier temps l'imagerie Schlieren afin de suivre le flux d'hélium en sortie du dispositif en présence ou non de la décharge. La spectroscopie d'émission a été utilisée pour déterminer les espèces émissives générées par le plasma. L'imagerie rapide nous a permis de suivre la génération et la propagation de la décharge et la distribution de certaines espèces excitées dans le jet avec l'aide de filtres interférentiels passe-bandes. Une cible diélectrique entraîne un étalement de l'onde d'ionisation sur sa surface et une cible conductrice entraîne la formation d'un canal de conduction. L'évolution de la densité d'espèces excitées (OH*, N2*, He* et O*) augmente avec la permittivité relative de la surface traitée. Le rôle joué par les espèces actives générées par les jets de plasma est fondamental dans la cinétique et la chimie des mécanismes liés aux procédés plasma. La seconde étape de la thèse porte donc sur l'évaluation spatiale et temporelle des densités du radical hydroxyle OH, une espèce jouant un rôle majeur dans de nombreux mécanismes. La cartographie spatiale et l'évolution temporelle des densités absolues et relatives de OH ont été obtenues au moyen de diagnostics lasers LIF et PLIF. La densité de OH générée augmente avec la permittivité relative de la surface traitée. On constate que les radicaux OH restent présents dans le canal d'hélium entre deux décharges consécutives (plusieurs dizaines de microsecondes). Enfin, nous nous sommes intéressés à la production d'espèces réactives à longue durée de vie dans l'eau ultrapure traitée par plasma. L'influence de différents paramètres sur la concentration d'espèces dans l'eau traitée a été étudiée dans le but d'optimiser la production de ces espèces. Dans nos conditions expérimentales, la mise à la masse de l'eau ultrapure lors du traitement permet l'augmentation de la concentration de H2O2. Par ailleurs, la mise à la masse induit une diminution la concentration de NO2-.Cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets are a subject of great interest in many biomedical fields for the past decade. In the various applications of these jets, the plasma generated can interact with many types of surfaces. Plasma jets influence the treated surfaces, but it is now well known that the treated surface also influences the plasma according to their characteristics. The work carried out in this thesis therefore aims to characterize a cold helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet in contact with three surfaces (dielectric, metallic and ultrapure water) by means of different electrical and optical diagnostics in order to understand the influence of the nature of the surfaces on the physical properties of the plasma and the chemical species generated. The first part of this thesis is focused on the study of the influence of surfaces on the plasma jet. Different parameters are studied, such as the nature of treated surfaces, the gas flow, the distance between the outlet of the device and the surface or the composition of the injected gas. For this purpose, helium flow at the outlet of the device is followed by Schlieren imagery with and without the discharge. Emission spectroscopy is used to determine the emissive species generated by the plasma. ICCD imagery is employed to follow the generation and the propagation of the discharge and the distribution of several excited species in the jet by using band-pass interference filters. A dielectric target causes the ionization wave to spread over its surface and a conductive target leads to the formation of a conduction channel. The evolution of excited species densities (OH*, N2*, He* and O*) increases with the relative permittivity of the treated surface. As well known, active species generated by plasma jets play a fundamental role in the kinetics and the chemistry of the mechanisms linked to plasma processes. The second part of the present work therefore relates to the spatial and temporal evaluation of the densities of the hydroxyl radical OH which plays a major role in many cellular mechanisms. The spatial mapping and the temporal evolution of the absolute and relative densities of OH are obtained by LIF and PLIF laser diagnostics. The density of OH generated increases with the electrical conductivity of the treated surface. It can be noted that the OH molecules remain present in the helium channel between two consecutive discharges (several tens of microseconds). Finally, we focus on the production of chemical species in ultrapure water treated with plasma. The influence of different parameters on the concentration of species in the treated water has been studied to optimize the production of chemical species. In experimental conditions, grounding the ultrapure water during treatment increases the concentration of H2O2. Furthermore, the grounding induces a decrease in the NO2- concentration

Effetti di differenti sistemi di gestione agronomica su alcuni gruppi di Artropodi indicatori di biodiversità

Scopi dell‟attività di ricerca condotta durante il dottorato sono stati quelli di valutare gli effetti di due diversi tipi di gestione agronomica sull'artropodofauna del suolo, evidenziare la potenzialità delle “strutture ecologiche” presenti nell‟area di studio di fungere da serbatoio di insetti utili e studiare la distribuzione spaziale dei Coleotteri utilizzati come bioindicatori. In appezzamenti facenti parte di una prova agronomica di confronto tra tecniche di conduzione convenzionale e biologica iniziata 7 anni prima presso il CIRAA "E. Avanzi", sono state messe a confronto le colture di mais e girasole. Per valutare l‟influenza della gestione agronomica è stato effettuato il monitoraggio di 4 famiglie di Coleotteri (Carabidi, Stafilinidi, Coccinellidi e Anticidi), ma anche di altri Artropodi quali Aranea e Opilionidi, in entrambe le colture prescelte e nei due sistemi di conduzione, per l‟intero ciclo colturale. Il monitoraggio è stato eseguito in 24 siti di campionamento con trappole a caduta e cartelle cromotropiche gialle. Ogni sito di cattura è stato georeferenziato per realizzare la distribuzione spaziale delle catture mediante software GIS. Per valutare l‟influenza delle siepi è stato eseguito, in quattro periodi diversi dell‟anno, un ulteriore monitoraggio utilizzando le stesse trappole descritte in precedenza, posizionate su tre file, a distanze crescenti dalla siepe. Gli esemplari catturati sono stati preparati a secco e determinati con la supervisione e l‟ausilio di specialisti delle famiglie in esame. Sono stati catturati più di 10000 Carabidi, 1500 Anticidi, 800 Coccinellidi, 500 Stafilinidi, quasi 2000 Aranea e 500 Opilionidi. Sulla base della classificazione specifica sono state catturate 51 specie di Carabidi, 10 di Anticidi e 17 di Coccinellidi. Per Stafilinidi, Aranea e Opilionidi, la classificazione non è stata fatta a livello di specie. Ad una prima analisi quantitativa i Carabidi, gli Stafilinidi e gli Aranea hanno mostrato una differenza significativa di abbondanza fra i due metodi agronomici. Sono state ricostruite anche le dinamiche di popolazione in base alla densità di attività totale della famiglia e di ciascuna specie. In questo modo si è osservato come, in diversi casi, alcune specie diminuiscano fortemente dopo alcuni interventi colturali. I dati delle singole famiglie sono stati poi sottoposti a Cluster analysis e NMDS per verificare la similarità fra i siti di cattura. Da questa analisi è emerso come, per i Carabidi, ci sia una forte differenza fra i siti a gestione convenzionale e quelli a gestione biologica, mentre ciò non si verifica per gli altri gruppi raccolti. Queste differenze evidenziate dall‟analisi multivariata sono state confermate anche dall‟analisi spaziale tramite strumenti GIS. La spazializzazione evidenzia come i Carabidi manifestino profonde differenze fra i diversi metodi di conduzione. Sono poi stati calcolati 9 indici ecologici, 2 indici di diversità (Shannon e Simpson), i 2 rispettivi indici di 8 equiripartizione, 2 indici di ricchezza specifica (Margalef e Menhinick), 2 indici di similarità di Sorensen (qualitativo e quantitativo) e l‟indice di Turnover. L‟analisi degli indici ha mostrato risultati contrastanti. Sembra infatti esserci una maggiore diversità e ricchezza specifica negli appezzamenti a conduzione convenzionale malgrado il maggior numero di specie riscontrate in quelli a conduzione biologica. Questa apparente contraddizione potrebbe essere dovuta al fatto che, nella determinazione di alcuni indici, pesano molto le abbondanze quantitative delle specie presenti e la presenza di poche specie dominanti molto numerose. Gli indici di similarità di Sorensen rivelano infatti che, in molti casi, i due sistemi di conduzione sono qualitativamente quasi del tutto uguali, ma quantitativamente molto diversi. Le prove per valutare l‟effetto delle infrastrutture ecologiche hanno mostrato come non esista un preciso gradiente di catture man mano che ci si allontana dalla siepe. Questo può essere legato al fatto che le siepi sono di impianto relativamente recente e non si è ancora venuto a ricreare un equilibrio ecologico al loro interno. Alla luce dei dati raccolti si può dire quindi che l‟influenza delle tecniche di conduzione sulla biodiversità entomologica sembra essere confermata e, in particolare, la famiglia dei Carabidi sembra mostrare una maggiore sensibilità. L‟analisi spaziale tramite GIS, inoltre, si dimostra un valido strumento anche in analisi di tipo faunistico ed è auspicabile che possa essere sempre più impiegata in futuro, sia in analisi svolte su piccola scala, come il caso di studio descritto, sia su scala più ampia, a livello di paesaggio