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Changes in the main weather features are becoming perceivable in Italy. In the last years, the average temperature and the intensity of rainstorms are increasing. Such phenomena could lead to changes in the earth-atmosphere interaction. Accounting for the high vulnerability of the Italian territory, an obvious consequence would concern the effects on the hydro-geological hazards, including landslides and floods. As a matter of fact, the higher frequency of high magnitude flood and landslide events represent an alarm bell. It is necessary to explore with all available instruments the consequences of the potential climate changes. Since quantitative predictions are not possible, the only way to run is depicting rational scenarios for the most vulnerable contexts adopting a multidisciplinary approach. Based on projections of potential climate changes in the 21st century, the report examines their potential impact in the context of the Italian peninsula. After a general overview about typical slope responses to weather changes, some quantitative scenarios have been depicted for representative geomorphological contexts. The last part of the paper examines changes in the expected risk, based on the characteristics of the Italian territory and its vulnerability, looking at the initiatives to undertake for its mitigation.

Seagrass systems of the Western Pacific region are biodiverse habitats, providing vital services to ecosystems and humans over a vast geographic range. SeagrassNet is a worldwide monitoring program that collects data on seagrass habitats, including the ten locations across the Western Pacific reported here where change at various scales was rapidly detected. Three sites remote from human influence were stable. Seagrasses declined largely due to increased nutrient loading (4 sites) and increased sedimentation (3 sites), the two most common stressors of seagrass worldwide. Two sites experienced near-total loss from of excess sedimentation, followed by partial recovery once sedimentation was reduced. Species shifts were observed at every site with recovering sites colonized by pioneer species. Regulation of watersheds is essential if marine protected areas are to preserve seagrass meadows. Seagrasses in the Western Pacific experience stress due to human impacts despite the vastness of the ocean area and low development pressures.

Background:  Acute and chronic ethanol exposure produces profound impairments in motor functioning. Individuals with lower sensitivity to the acute motor impairing effects of ethanol have an increased risk of developing alcohol dependence and abuse, and infants with subtle delays in motor coordination development may have an increased risk for subsequently developing alcoholism. Thus, understanding the mechanism by which ethanol disrupts motor functioning is very important.Methods:  Parasagittal slices of the cerebellar vermis (250 μM thick) were prepared from P17 to 20 Sprague–Dawley rats. Whole‐cell recordings of Purkinje cells were obtained with an Axopatch 200B amplifier. Parallel fiber‐Purkinje cell synaptic currents were sampled at 1 kHz and digitized at 10 kHz, and synaptic long‐term depression (LTD) was observed in either external or internal application of ethanol for comparison.Results:  We determined whether ethanol acutely affects parallel fiber LTD using whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings from Purkinje cells. Application of ethanol both externally (50 mM) and internally (17 and 10 mM) significantly suppressed mGluR‐mediate slow currents. Short‐term external ethanol exposure (50 but not 17 mM) during tetanus blocked mGluR‐dependent parallel fiber LTD. Furthermore, internal 17 and 10 mM ethanol completely inhibited this LTD.Conclusions:  The results of the current study demonstrate that ethanol acutely suppresses parallel fiber LTD and may influence the mGluR‐mediated slow current intracellularly. This study, plus previous evidence by Carta and colleagues (2006) and Belmeguenai and colleagues (2008), suggests significant actions of ethanol on mGluR‐mediated currents and its dependent plasticity in brain.

AbstractBACKGROUND: Inappropriate utilisation of biosolids may adversely impact agrosystem productivity. Here, we address the response of wheat (Triticum durum) to different doses (0, 40, 100, 200 and 300 t ha−1) of either municipal solid waste (MSW) compost or sewage sludge in a greenhouse pot experiment. Plant growth, heavy metal uptake, and antioxidant activity were considered.RESULTS: Biomass production of treated plants was significantly enhanced at 40 t ha−1 and 100 t ha−1 of MSW compost (+48% and +78% relative to the control, respectively). At the same doses of sewage sludge, the increase was only 18%. Higher doses of both biosolids restricted significantly the plant growth, in concomitance with the significant accumulation of heavy metals (Ni2+, Pb2+, Cu2+ and Zn2+), especially in leaves. Leaf activities of antioxidant enzymes (ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase, catalase and superoxide dismutase) were unchanged at 40 t ha−1 MSW compost or sewage sludge, but were significantly stimulated at higher doses (200–300 t ha−1), together with higher leaf concentration of reduced glutathione.CONCLUSION: This preliminary study suggests that a MSW supply at moderate doses (100 t ha−1) could be highly beneficial for wheat productivity. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry

Prenatal ethanol exposure produces severe changes in brain, liver, and kidney through mechanisms involving growth factors. These molecules regulate survival, differentiation, maintenance, and connectivity of brain, liver, and kidney cells. Despite the abundant available data on the short and mid-lasting effects of ethanol intoxication, only few data show the long-lasting damage induced by early ethanol administration. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in nerve growth factor (NGF), brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in brain areas, liver, and kidney of 18-mo-old male mice exposed perinatally to ethanol at 11% vol or to red wine at the same ethanol concentration. The authors found that ethanol per se elevated NGF, BDNF, HGF, and VEGF measured by ELISA in brain limbic system areas. In the liver, early exposure to ethanol solution and red wine depleted BDNF and VEGF concentrations. In the kidney, red wine exposure only decreased VEGF. In conclusion, the present study shows that, in aged mice, early administration of ethanol solution induced long-lasting damage at growth factor levels in frontal cortex, hippocampus, and liver but not in kidney. Otherwise, in mice exposed to red wine, significant changes were observed in the liver and kidney but not in the hippocampus and frontal cortex. The brain differences in ethanol-induced toxicity when ethanol is administered alone or in red wine may be related to compounds with antioxidant properties present in the red wine.

Abstract Provided that LED street lighting is guided by quality principles, outdoor illumination using light-emitting diodes will have a significant global impact helping to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, save relevant amounts of electricity and enhance the quality of life in cities as well as in remote areas. This study summarizes recent findings providing guidelines for further progress in this crucially important technology on the common pathway to sustainable development.

Diesel engine exhausts from a common rail 3.0 L F1C diesel engine were analyzed at two different load conditions of the WLTC testing cycle downstream of both the diesel particulate filter (DPF) and selective catalytic reactor (SCR) to verify their effect on the characteristics of carbon particulate matter. An array of chemical, physical and spectroscopic techniques (gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), mobility analyzer, UV-Visible absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy) was applied for characterizing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), heavy aromatic compounds and soot, constituting the particulate matter (PM) sampled from the exhaust. The engine was operated in half load (HL) (188 Nm, representing the more common condition for engine in urban traffic) and full load (FL) (452 Nm, representing the best performance of the engine operation) conditions, at the same engine speed (2000 rpm). Soot formation was enhanced in HL condition, with respect to FL, but, just because of the much lower soot amount, the after-treatment systems in this last condition resulted to be less efficient in the soot abatement. Indeed, the abatement through DPF was about 40% lower in the FL condition with respect to HL condition, and any significant further concentration decrease was found after SCR, in both conditions. By contrast, PAH concentration after DPF abatement was found to be higher in the HL with respect to FL condition. A further PAH concentration decrease of about 30% was found after the SCR in the HL condition whereas in FL the reduction was only about 5-6%. Also the heavy aromatic compounds having molecular weight above the GC-MS detection limit (300 u), were mitigated by SCR. Therefore, SCR did not cause a further soot reduction, whereas it was effective in largely reducing PAH and heavy aromatics emissions, especially in the lower temperature condition featuring the half-load condition, when combustion efficiency is worse. Moreover, SCR system reduced the emission of small particles probably due to an enhanced agglomeration of particles, with beneficial effect on the harmfulness to human health.