Estimation of the methane emission factor for the Italian Mediterranean buffalo

In order to contribute to the improvement of the national greenhouse gas emission inventory, this work aimed at estimating a country-specific enteric methane (CH4) emission factor for the Italian Mediterranean buffalo. For this purpose, national agriculture statistics, and information on animal production and farming conditions were analysed, and the emission factor was estimated using the Tier 2 model of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Country-specific CH4 emission factors for buffalo cows (630 kg body weight, BW) and other buffalo (313 kg BW) categories were estimated for the period 1990–2004. In 2004, the estimated enteric CH4 emission factor for the buffalo cows was 73 kg/head per year, whereas that for other buffalo categories it was 56 kg/head per year. Research in order to determine specific CH4 conversion rates at the predominant production system is suggested

Quantum dynamics of a high-finesse optical cavity coupled with a thin semi-transparent membrane

We study the quantum dynamics of the cavity optomechanical system formed by a Fabry-Perot cavity with a thin vibrating membrane at its center. We first derive the general multimode Hamiltonian describing the radiation pressure interaction between the cavity modes and the vibrational modes of the membrane. We then restrict the analysis to the standard case of a single cavity mode interacting with a single mechanical resonator and we determine to what extent optical absorption by the membrane hinder reaching a quantum regime for the cavity-membrane system. We show that membrane absorption does not pose serious limitations and that one can simultaneously achieve ground state cooling of a vibrational mode of the membrane and stationary optomechanical entanglement with state-of-the-art apparatuses.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Sensitivity-bandwidth limit in a multi-mode opto-electro-mechanical transducer

An opto--electro--mechanical system formed by a nanomembrane capacitively coupled to an LC resonator and to an optical interferometer has been recently employed for the high--sensitive optical readout of radio frequency (RF) signals [T. Bagci, \emph{et~al.}, Nature {\bf 507}, 81 (2013)]. Here we propose and experimentally demonstrate how the bandwidth of such kind of transducer can be increased by controlling the interference between two--electromechanical interaction pathways of a two--mode mechanical system. With a proof--of--principle device \new{operating at room temperature, we achieve a sensitivity of 300 nV/Hz^(1/2) over a bandwidth of 15 kHz in the presence of radiofrequency noise, and an optimal shot-noise limited sensitivity of 10 nV/Hz^(1/2) over a bandwidth of 5 kHz. We discuss strategies for improving the performance of the device, showing that, for the same given sensitivity, a mechanical multi--mode transducer can achieve a bandwidth} significantly larger than that of a single-mode one

Drinking wine at home: Hedonic analysis of sicilian wines using quantile regression

Abstract: In recent decades, the Sicilian wine industry has experienced a booming expansion because of the growing preferences of Italian consumers for Sicilian wines, especially in extra-regional markets. These consumers have been paying closer attention to Sicilian premium wines. For this reason, the objective of this study is to inform professional investors and wine managers about the consumer preferences with respect to the most important segment categories of domestically consumed Sicilian wines. Using the quantile regression technique, we analyzed the role of wine attributes and prices as an information tool in order to value for each wine segment the implicit price of the attributes affecting wine consumers\u2019 choices. The results indicate that Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Geographical Indication (PGI) certification is the main determinant in the wine price mechanisms and certified wines achieve premium prices that are progressively higher as the price level of the wine increases. Furthermore the effect of the brand on price formation seems to have a significant impact for low-end wines, whereas it has no specific impact on the price mechanism for high-end wines. Keywords: Consumer Scan Dataset, Geographic Origin, Hedonic Price, Robust Regression, Wine Consumptio

Optomechanical sideband cooling of a thin membrane within a cavity

We present an experimental study of dynamical back-action cooling of the fundamental vibrational mode of a thin semitransparent membrane placed within a high-finesse optical cavity. We study how the radiation pressure interaction modifies the mechanical response of the vibrational mode, and the experimental results are in agreement with a Langevin equation description of the coupled dynamics. The experiments are carried out in the resolved sideband regime, and we have observed cooling by a factor 350 We have also observed the mechanical frequency shift associated with the quadratic term in the expansion of the cavity mode frequency versus the effective membrane position, which is typically negligible in other cavity optomechanical devices.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Association between interleukin-10 polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

It has been hypothesized that polymorphisms of interleukin (IL)-10 genes affect the risk of developing late onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, results of different studies are often inconsistent. Our aim was to investigate by meta-analysis the association of the common polymorphisms comprehensively defining the genetic variability of the IL-10 gene with AD risk. Fifteen studies investigating the association between IL-10 polymorphisms (-1082,-819,-592) and AD were found and analyzed. The model-free approach was applied to meta-analyze these case-control genetic association studies. Available data suggested an association between-1082 polymorphism and AD risk with a marginal statistical significance (GG versus AG/AA: pooled odds ratio [OR]: 0.82, 95% confidence interval CI: 0.65-1.02) and evidence of a moderate degree of between-study heterogeneity (χ 2 = 27.13, d.f. = 13, p = 0.01, I 2 = 52%). For the-819 and-592 polymorphisms, we did not find an association with AD, but significant between-study heterogeneity made genotype data pooling unacceptable. Analysis by IL-10 haplotype showed that the-1082G/-819C/-592C haplotype is associated with a lower risk of AD, although with a marginal statistical significance, probably due to the low number of studies included (GCC versus other genotypes: OR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.32-1.15; I 2: 85%). Current findings suggest a possible association between-1082 A > G polymorphism and the risk of developing AD; this effect is more evident in the oldest patients. The high degree of between-study heterogeneity, due to several underpowered studies and to other methodological problems of individual studies underlies the need for further methodologically adequate studies. © 2012-IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved