Aula Verde (tree room) as a link between art and science to raise public awareness of nature-based solutions

Nature-based solutions inherently require a multifaceted perspective that encompasses diverse fields. The aim of this project is to develop more effective nature-based solutions, climate action and environmental awareness by breaking down boundaries between disciplines and fostering a co-creative process. Concepts of ecology and urban forestry were combined with the research on political ecology, environmental humanities, land art, regenerative art, performing art, participatory art, and more-than-human art. This process resulted in the creation of Aula Verde Aniene. It is located in an urban park in Rome and consists of a stand of trees arranged in circles with a specific design to give the perception of being in an outdoor vegetated room. The project activities involved community participation through art performances and citizen science initiatives. Regulating and cultural ecosystem services of Aula Verde were assessed using i-Tree Eco software and citizens’ surveys. Beyond numerical descriptions of ecosystem services, the manuscript introduces shinrin-yoku as a practice to raise awareness of nature. The distinctive approach here described contributed to convey a sense of belonging to the ecosystem to citizens. The project framework and study findings have been developed to formulate policy recommendations and disseminate a format that can be adapted to diverse locations

Strangeness Production close to Threshold in Proton-Nucleus and Heavy-Ion Collisions

We discuss strangeness production close to threshold in p+A and A+A collision. Comparing the body of available K+, K0, K-, and Lambda data with the IQMD transport code and for some key observables as well with the HSD transport code, we find good agreement for the large majority of the observables. The investigation of the reaction with help of these codes reveals the complicated interaction of the strange particles with hadronic matter which makes strangeness production in heavy-ion collisions very different from that in elementary interactions. We show how different strange particle observables can be used to study the different facets of this interaction (production, rescattering and potential interaction) which finally merge into a comprehensive understanding of these interactions. We identify those observables which allow for studying (almost) exclusively one of these processes to show how future high precision experiments can improve our quantitative understanding. Finally, we discuss how the K+ multiplicity can be used to study the hadronic equation of state.Comment: 134 pages, pdf 3.3MB, version to be published in Physics Report

Lumbar position sense acuity during an electrical shock stressor

BACKGROUND: Optimal motor control of the spine depends on proprioceptive input as a prerequisite for co-ordination and the stability of the spine. Muscle spindles are known to play an important role in proprioception. Animal experiments suggest that an increase in sympathetic outflow can depress muscle spindle sensitivity. As the muscle spindle may be influenced by sympathetic modulation, we hypothesized that a state of high sympathetic activity as during mental stress would affect the proprioceptive output from the muscle spindles in the back muscles leading to alterations in proprioception and position sense acuity. The aim was to investigate the effect of mental stress, in this study the response to an electrical shock stressor, on position sense acuity in the rotational axis of the lumbar spine. METHODS: Passive and active position sense acuity in the rotational plane of the lumbar spine was investigated in the presence and absence of an electrical shock stressor in 14 healthy participants. An electrical shock-threat stressor lasting for approximately 12 minutes was used as imposed stressor to build up a strong anticipatory arousal: The participants were told that they were going to receive 8 painful electrical shocks however the participants never received the shocks. To quantify the level of physiological arousal and the level of sympathetic outflow continuous beat-to-beat changes in heart rate (beats*min(-1)) and systolic, diastolic and mean arterial blood pressure (mmHg) were measured. To quantify position sense acuity absolute error (AE) expressed in degrees was measured. Two-way analysis of variance with repeated measurements (subjects as random factor and treatments as fixed factors) was used to compare the different treatments. RESULTS: Significant increases were observed in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate during the stress sessions indicating elevated sympathetic activity (15, 14 and 10%, respectively). Despite pronounced changes in the sympathetic activity and subjective experiences of stress no changes were found in position sense acuity in the rotational plane of the lumbar spine in the presence of the electrical shock stressor compared to the control period. CONCLUSION: The present findings indicate that position sense acuity in the rotational plane of the spine was unaffected by the electrical shock stressor

The Temporal Development of Fatty Infiltrates in the Neck Muscles Following Whiplash Injury: An Association with Pain and Posttraumatic Stress

Radiological findings associated with poor recovery following whiplash injury remain elusive. Muscle fatty infiltrates (MFI) in the cervical extensors on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with chronic pain have been observed. Their association with specific aspects of pain and psychological factors have yet to be explored longitudinally.44 subjects with whiplash injury were enrolled at 4 weeks post-injury and classified at 6 months using scores on the Neck Disability Index as recovered, mild and moderate/severe. A measure for MFI and patient self-report of pain, loss of cervical range of movement and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were collected at 4 weeks, 3 months and 6 months post-injury. The effects of time and group and the interaction of time by group on MFI were determined. We assessed the mediating effect of posttraumatic stress and cervical range of movement on the longitudinal relationship between initial pain intensity and MFI. There was no difference in MFI across all groups at enrollment. MFI values increased in the moderate/severe group and were significantly higher in comparison to the recovered and mild groups at 3 and 6 months. No differences in MFI values were found between the mild and recovered groups. Initial severity of PTSD symptoms mediated the relationship between pain intensity and MFI at 6 months. Initial ROM loss did not.MFI in the cervical extensors occur soon following whiplash injury and suggest the possibility for the occurrence of a more severe injury with subsequent PTSD in patients with persistent symptoms

Measuring biting behavior induced by acute stress in the rat.

Previous reports have indicated that biting behavior is enhanced in rats that are subject to acute stress. Several methods have been proposed for studying this phenomenon, one of which is the electromyography (EMG) of the jaw muscles. In this study, we compared total EMG activity with the EMG activity related to biting behavior, as determined by video monitoring, before and after restraint stress. Wistar albino rats (150 g) were subject to surgery for electrode placement 48 h before measurements. The EMG activity of the masseter muscle on one side was recorded for 10 min before and immediately after 30 min of restraint stress. Restraint stress increased jaw muscle EMG activity, although some of the activity was related to behaviors other than biting. Recording the EMG activity of jaw muscles is useful for measuring the stress response in rats, but careful video monitoring is needed if biting behavior is to be studied in particular

Physiological responses to low-force work and psychosocial stress in women with chronic trapezius myalgia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Repetitive and stressful work tasks have been linked to the development of pain in the trapezius muscle, although the underlying mechanisms still remain unclear. In earlier studies, it has been hypothesized that chronic muscle pain conditions are associated with imbalance in the autonomic nervous system, predominantly expressed as an increased sympathetic activity. This study investigates whether women with chronic trapezius myalgia show higher muscle activity and increased sympathetic tone at baseline and during repetitive low-force work and psychosocial stress, compared with pain-free controls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighteen women with chronic trapezius myalgia (MYA) and 30 healthy female controls (CON) were studied during baseline rest, 100 min of repetitive low-force work, 20 min of psychosocial stress (Trier Social Stress Test, TSST), and 80 min recovery. The subjects rated their pain intensity, stress and energy level every 20 min throughout the experiment. Muscle activity was measured by surface electromyography in the trapezius muscle (EMGtrap) and deltoid muscle (EMGdelt). Autonomic reactivity was measured through heart rate (HR), skin conductance (SCL), blood pressure (MAP) and respiration rate (Resp).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At baseline, EMGtrap, stress ratings, and HR were higher in MYA than in CON. Energy ratings, EMGdelt, SCL, MAP and Resp were, however, similar in the two groups. Significant main group effects were found for pain intensity, stress ratings and EMGtrap. Deltoid muscle activity and autonomic responses were almost identical in MYA and CON during work, stress and recovery. In MYA only, pain intensity and stress ratings increased towards the end of the repetitive work.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found increased muscle activity during uninstructed rest in the painful muscle of a group of women with trapezius myalgia. The present study could not confirm the hypothesis that chronic trapezius myalgia is associated with increased sympathetic activity. The suggestion of autonomic imbalance in patients with chronic local or regional musculoskeletal pain needs to be further investigated.</p

Chimica-fisica: primo anno

Termodinamica ; cenni sulla costituzione della materia ; il metodo statistico ; le statistiche di Boltzmann-Maxwell, Bose-Einstein e Fermi-Dirac ; studio termodinamico e statistico del gas perfetto e delle miscele gassose ; i solidi cristallini ; le reazioni chimiche

Lithium Toxicity in Lepidium sativum L. Seedlings: Exploring Li Accumulation’s Impact on Germination, Root Growth, and DNA Integrity

The predicted increase in demand for minor metals for modern technologies raises major concerns regarding potential environmental concentration increases. Among the minor metals, lithium (Li) is particularly noteworthy due to growing demand for battery production. Concerns have been raised about the impact on biota of increasing Li concentrations in the environment. To expand the knowledge of the effects of Li on plants, garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.), a model plant for ecotoxicity assay, was tested in a 72 h test in Petri plates. The results showed a stimulation effect of Li at the lowest concentration (Li chloride 10 mg L−1) on seed germination and primary root elongation. Conversely, higher Li concentrations (50 and 150 mg L−1) caused a progressive impairment in both parameters. A genotoxic effect of Li on root cells, evaluated through the alkaline comet assay, was observed at each concentration tested, particularly at 150 mg L−1 Li chloride. Elemental analysis showed that Li accumulated in the seedlings in a dose–concentration relationship, confirming its ability to be readily absorbed and accumulated in plants. Given the likely increase in Li levels in the environment, further research is required to clarify the toxicity mechanisms induced by Li on growth and nucleic acids

Experimental approach for evaluating the ability of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) to tolerate and phytoextract lithium from environmental matrices

Lithium is a soft, silvery-white, alkaline metal. It is the lightest element in the first group of the periodic table and generally the lightest of the metals, with a density of (0.534 g cm-3).The economic importance of Li has grown exponentially over time, and this metal now plays a significant role in the global economy, mainly due to the growing demand for Li-ion batteries, which are widely used to power electric vehicles, electronic devices and to store energy from renewable sources [1].Lithium is currently considered one of the most worrying emerging contaminants [2] due to its high use and the possible inappropriate disposal practices, which are likely to increase its concentration in environmental matrices and its potential toxic effects on soil and aquatic organisms [3].Measures must therefore be taken to mitigate these negative effects, and nature-based technologies could be of interest for their environmental and economic sustainability.Plant-lithium interactions have recently been investigated to assess both metal toxicity [4] and the ability of plants to phytoaccumulate. To gain insight into both issues, two proof-of-concept studies were conducted under laboratory conditions to assess the ability of Cannabis sativa L. to tolerate and bioaccumulate Li added to the growth medium. To this end, an in vitro plant study and a hydroponic growth chamber experiment were carried out.Micro-shoots of C. sativa were exposed for two weeks under controlled microenvironmental conditions to 0 (control), 50 mg L-1, 150 mg L-1, 300 mg L-1 LiCl supplied by Murashige and Skoog growth medium.For the hydroponic condition, three-week-old plantlets were grown for 10 days in a growth chamber in Hoagland's solution containing 0 (control), 50 mg L-1, 150 mg L-1, 300 mg L-1 LiCl.At the end of both experiments, the plants were analysed for morpho-physiological and ionomic traits by evaluating biometric parameters, pigment content, photosynthetic performance (chlorophyll fluorescence measurements), macro- and micronutrient concentration and Li accumulation in the organs.The results demonstrate the remarkable ability of hemp plants to absorb, accumulate and translocate Li; it's particularly interesting to note the high absorption rate combined with no toxicity at the lowest concentration tested. Changes in photosynthetic performance and ion content were observed at the highest Li concentration tested. The high accumulation and translocation of lithium provide interesting future scenarios in the orbit of metal biorecovery from contaminated environmental matrices and/or natural sources at low concentrations. However, further experiments under real conditions are needed to confirm these results. Keywords: metal toxicity, lithium, hemp, environmental contamination, photosynthesis, nature-based solution, plant physiology References [1] Christmann et al., Lithium process chemistry (pp. 1-40). Elsevier 2015 [2] Melchor-Martínez et al., Chemical and Environmental Engineering 2021,3, 100104 [3] R.B. Kaunda, Journal of Energy &amp; Natural Resources Law 2020, 38, 237-244. [4] R. Kastori, et al., Contemporary Agriculture 2022, 71, 226-239

Morpho-physiological and molecular responses of Lepidium sativum L. seeds induced by bismuth exposure

Bismuth (Bi) is considered a “green metal” as its toxicity has been reported to be lower than other metals, particularly lead. Even though the low presence in the environment, an increase of Bi concentrations in soil and wastewater is predictable due to its enhanced uses for many industrial and medical applications. Therefore, given the little literature on the matter, particularly in plants, information on the effects of Bi on living organisms is needed. In this study, seeds of garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.), a model plant for ecotoxicological assays (OECD), were exposed to increasing Bi concentrations (0 to 485 mg L−1 Bi(NO3)3·5H2O in deionised water) in petri plates. After 72 h, the percent germination index (GI%) revealed no effects at the lowest Bi concentrations, while a slight toxicity occurred at 242 and 485 mg L−1 Bi nitrate. A significant reduction of the root length was observed in Bi-treated seedlings, especially at the highest Bi concentrations. Consistently, the Alkaline Comet Assay revealed a genotoxic effect induced by Bi exposure in garden cress seedlings. A Bi concentration-dependent metal accumulation in plantlets was also observed, with a Bi concentration higher than 1200 mg kg−1 found in plantlets at the highest Bi concentration assayed. The toxicity effects observed in the study were discussed, as contribution to the expansion of knowledge on Bi ecotoxicity and genotoxicity in plants