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Roughness is a dynamic property of the gravel road surface that affects safety, ride comfort as well as vehicle tyre life and maintenance costs. A rapid survey of gravel road condition is fundamental for an effective maintenance planning and definition of the intervention priorities.Different non-contact techniques such as laser scanning, ultrasonic sensors and photogrammetry have recently been proposed to reconstruct three-dimensional topography of road surface and allow extraction of roughness metrics. The application of Microsoft Kinect™ depth camera is proposed and discussed here for collection of 3D data sets from gravel roads, to be implemented in order to allow quantification of surface roughness.The objectives are to: i) verify the applicability of the Kinect sensor for characterization of different forest roads, ii) identify the appropriateness and potential of different roughness parameters and iii) analyse the correlation with vibrations recoded by 3-axis accelerometers installed on different vehicles. The test took advantage of the implementation of the Kinect depth camera for surface roughness determination of 4 different forest gravel roads and one well-maintained asphalt road as reference. Different vehicles (mountain bike, off-road motorcycle, ATV vehicle, 4WD car and compact crossover) were included in the experiment in order to verify the vibration intensity when travelling on different road surface conditions. Correlations between the extracted roughness parameters and vibration levels of the tested vehicles were then verified. Coefficients of determination of between 0.76 and 0.97 were detected between average surface roughness and standard deviation of relative accelerations, with higher values in the case of lighter vehicles.

Defining the most profitable remote sensing platforms is a difficult decision-making process, as it requires agronomic and economic considerations. In this paper, the price and profitability of three levels of remote sensing platforms were evaluated to define a decision-making process. Prices of satellite, plane and UAV-acquired vegetation indices were collected in Italy during 2020 and compared to the economic benefits resulting from variable rate nitrogen application, according to a bibliographic meta-analysis performed on grains. The quality comparison of these three technologies was performed considering the error propagation in the NDVI formula. The errors of the single bands were used to assess the optical properties of the sensors. Results showed that medium-resolution satellite data with good optical properties could be profitably used for variable rate nitrogen applications starting from 2.5 hectares, in case of medium resolution with good optical properties. High-resolution satellites with lower optical quality were profitable starting from 13.2 hectares, while very high-resolution satellites with good optical properties could be profitably used starting from 76.8 hectares. Plane-acquired images, which have good optical properties, were profitable starting from 66.4 hectares. Additionally, a reference model for satellite image price is proposed.

A fully-detailed LC-MS qualitative profiling of red grape skin, extracted with a mixture of ethanol and water (70:30 v:v) has permitted the identification of 65 compounds which can be classified into the following chemical classes: organic and phenolic acids (14 compounds), stilbenoids (1 compound), flavanols (21 compounds), flavonols (15 compounds) and anthocyanins (14 compounds). The extraction yield obtained with water at different temperatures (100 °C, 70 °C, room temperature) was then evaluated and the overall polyphenol content indicates that EtOH:H2O solvent is the most efficient and selective for polyphenol extraction. However, by analyzing the recovery yield of each single polyphenol, we found that water extraction under heating conditions is effective (extraction yield similar or even better in respect to the binary solvent) for some polyphenolic classes, such as hydrophilic procyanidins, phenolic acids, flavonol glucosides and stilbenoids. However, according to their lipophilic character, a poor yield was found for the most lipophilic components, such as flavonol aglycones, and in general for anthocyanins. The radical scavenging activity was in accordance with the polyphenol content, and hence, much higher for the extract obtained with the binary solvent in respect to water extraction. All the tested extracts were found to have an anti-inflammatory activity in the R3/1 cell line with NF-kb reporter challenged with 0.01 µg/mL of IL-1α, in a 1 to 250 µg/mL concentration range. An intriguing result was that the EtOH:H2O extract was found to be superimposable with that obtained using water at 100 °C despite the lower polyphenol content. Taken together, the results show the bioactive potentialities of grape skin extracts and the possibility to exploit this rich industrial waste. Water extraction carried out by heating is an easy, low-cost and environmentally friendly extraction method for some polyphenol classes and may have great potential for extracts with anti-inflammatory activities.

Heat stress (HS) and water stress (WS) pose severe threats to viticulture, and effective management solutions to counter their effects on grapevine performance must be examined. In this study, we evaluated the physiological and spectral responses of Vitis vinifera L. cv. Sauvignon blanc to individual (HS) and combined (HS + WS) stress under four different cooling and irrigation strategies. The treatments were: standard drip irrigation (SI), extra drip irrigation (SI+), extra sprinklers irrigation (SPRI), and sustained deficit irrigation (SDI; 50% of SI). Compared to the other treatments, in the early stages after the occurrence of HS, the vine water status of SPRI and SI+ improved, with high stomatal conductance (gs) (SPRI) and stem water potential (Ψstem; SPRI and SI+). All the physiological indicators measured were significantly lower after the end of HS in the SDI treatment. We also identified the spectral response of grapevine to HS and combined HS and WS (resulting from SDI). Consistent with the physiological analysis, the proximal spectral responses of leaves identified SPRI and SI+ as putative cooling strategies to minimize vine HS. The vines undergoing combined stress (SDI) showed greenness amelioration 10 days after stress, as revealed by the greenness vegetation indices (VIs), i.e., Green Index (GI), Normalized Difference Greenness Vegetation Index (NDGI), and Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI). However, their physiological recovery was not achieved within this time, as shown by the Simple Ratio Index (SRI), Transformed Chlorophyll Absorption Ratio Index (TCARI), and TCARI/Optimized Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (TCARI/OSAVI). A three-step band selection process allowed the identification of the spectral traits’ responsive to HS and combined stress, i.e., 1336–1340 nm, 1967–1971 nm, and 600–604 nm.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that polymorphisms involved in immune genes can affect the risk, pathogenesis, and outcome of thoracic ascending aortic aneurysms (TAAA). Here, we explored the potential associations of five functional promoter polymorphisms in interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1B, IL-1A, IL-18, and Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)A genes with TAAA. Methods: 144 TAAA patients and 150 age/gender matched controls were typed using KASPar assays. Effects on telomere length and levels of TAAA related histopathological and serological markers were analyzed. Results: Significant associations with TAAA risk were obtained for IL-6 rs1800795G>C and IL-1B rs16944C>T SNPs. In addition, the combined rs1800795C/rs16944T genotype showed a synergic effect on TAAA pathogenesis and outcome. The combined rs1800795C/rs16944T genotype was significantly associated with: (a) higher serum levels of both cytokines and MMP-9 and -2; (b) a significant CD3+CD4+CD8+ CD68+CD20+ cell infiltration in aorta aneurysm tissues; (c) a significant shorter telomere length and alterations in telomerase activity. Finally, it significantly correlated with TAAA aorta tissue alterations, including elastic fragmentation, medial cell apoptosis, cystic medial changes, and MMP-9 levels. Conclusions: the combined rs1800795C/rs16944T genotype appears to modulate TAAA risk, pathogenesis, and outcome, and consequently can represent a potential predictive and prognostic TAAA biomarker for individual management, implementation of innovative treatments, and selection of the more proper surgical timing and approaches.

Abstract Purpose: To investigate the effects of lycopene and resveratrol pretreatment on hepatic hyperplasia in partially hepatectomized rats. Methods: The lycopene group and the resveratrol group received 40 mg/kg/day of lycopene or resveratrol, respectively (dissolved in olive oil or in saline solution, respectively) and administered via a gastric tube for 30 days. The partially hepatectomzed (PH) control groups received saline or olive oil via a gastric tube for 30 days, respectively, and the normal control group received no treatment. Liver tissue and intracardiac blood samples were obtained 24, 36 or 48 h after PH. Results: No areas of fibrosis were detected. No significant changes in mitotic index, in the number of apoptosis events or in aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels were observed. Conclusions: Lycopene and resveratrol pretreatment did not interfere on hepatic hyperplasia in partially hepatectomized rats.

We investigate the uplink (UL) performance of multicell massive MIMO (maMIMO) communication systems in frequency-selective fading channels, when the channel estimates are corrupted by pilot contamination, and the receiver employs maximum-ratio combining (MRC). Specifically, two fundamental schemes (receivers/waveforms) are considered: the time-reversal MRC (TRMRC) under single-carrier, and the conventional frequency-domain MRC (FDMRC) for orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing. We first derive approximate analytical expressions for the UL signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) performance of maMIMO systems, deploying both TRMRC and FDMRC. Then, lower bounds for the achievable rates of both systems are presented, and the derived expressions are validated by means of Monte–Carlo simulations. The performance of the investigated systems are compared regarding the variation of several parameters, such as the number of base station (BS) antennas $M$ , number of users for each cell $K$ , UL transmit power $\rho _{u}$ , and the number of taps of the time-dispersive channel $L$ . Our results demonstrate that the attained SINR performance of both schemes are very similar, but, in terms of achievable rates, TRMRC in general outperforms FDMRC by not requiring cyclic prefix transmission. On the other hand, our computational complexity analysis demonstrates that the TRMRC scheme demands somewhat higher processing resources ( $\mathcal {O}(LMK)$ ) than FDMRC ( $\mathcal {O}(MK)$ ). Thus, we propose a reduced complexity implementation for the TRMRC receiver, by employing the fast convolution with overlap-and-add technique, which is able to achieve the same result of TRMRC with a complexity of $\mathcal {O}(\log _{2}(2L)MK)$ . For a practical maMIMO setup, the complexity reduction is about 50%. Finally, based on the derived expressions, we propose an iterative way to obtain the number of users that is able to maximize the sum rate of the cell, and investigate its behavior with the variation of different parameters, such as number of antennas, data, and pilot transmit power, as well as different frequency and pilot reuse schemes.

Summary: Although accumulation of DNA damage and genomic instability in resting cells can cause neurodegenerative disorders, our understanding of how transcription produces DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) is limited. Transcription-blocking topoisomerase I cleavage complexes (TOP1ccs) are frequent events that prime DSB production in non-replicating cells. Here, we report a mechanism of their formation by showing that they arise from two nearby single-strand breaks (SSBs) on opposing DNA strands: one SSB from the removal of transcription-blocking TOP1ccs by the TDP1 pathway and the other from the cleavage of R-loops by endonucleases, including XPF, XPG, and FEN1. Genetic defects in TOP1cc removal (TDP1, PNKP, and XRCC1) or in the resolution of R-loops (SETX) enhance DSB formation and prevent their repair. Such deficiencies cause neurological disorders. Owing to the high frequency of TOP1cc trapping and the widespread distribution of R-loops, these persistent transcriptional DSBs could accumulate over time in neuronal cells, contributing to the neurodegenerative diseases. : Cristini et al. identify a mechanism of DSB formation in non-replicating cells, which strictly depends on transcription. They are formed by two single-strand breaks on opposing DNA strands resulting from the processing of both R-loops and topoisomerase I, and genetic defects increasing these transcriptional DSBs cause neurological disorders. Keywords: DNA double-strand breaks, transcription, R-loops, topoisomerase I, neurodegenerative diseases, DNA repair, TDP1, XPF, Senataxin, RNA/DNA hybrid

Perturbation of protein homeostasis and aggregation of misfolded proteins is a major cause of many human diseases. A hallmark of the neurodegenerative disease spinocerebellar ataxia type 7 (SCA7) is the intranuclear accumulation of mutant, misfolded ataxin-7 (polyQ-ATXN7). Here, we show that endogenous ATXN7 is modified by SUMO proteins, thus also suggesting a physiological role for this modification under conditions of proteotoxic stress caused by the accumulation of polyQ-ATXN7. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments, immunofluorescence microscopy and proximity ligation assays confirmed the colocalization and interaction of polyQ-ATXN7 with SUMO2 in cells. Moreover, upon inhibition of the proteasome, both endogenous SUMO2/3 and the RNF4 ubiquitin ligase surround large polyQ-ATXN7 intranuclear inclusions. Overexpression of RNF4 and/or SUMO2 significantly decreased levels of polyQ-ATXN7 and, upon proteasomal inhibition, led to a marked increase in the polyubiquitination of polyQ-ATXN7. This provides a mechanism for the clearance of polyQ-ATXN7 from affected cells that involves the recruitment of RNF4 by SUMO2/3-modified polyQ-ATXN7, thus leading to its ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation. In a SCA7 knock-in mouse model, we similarly observed colocalization of SUMO2/3 with polyQ-ATXN7 inclusions in the cerebellum and retina. Furthermore, we detected accumulation of SUMO2/3 high-molecular-mass species in the cerebellum of SCA7 knock-in mice, compared with their wild-type littermates, and changes in SUMO-related transcripts. Immunohistochemical analysis showed the accumulation of SUMO proteins and RNF4 in the cerebellum of SCA7 patients. Taken together, our results show that the SUMO pathway contributes to the clearance of aggregated ATXN7 and suggest that its deregulation might be associated with SCA7 disease progression.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Farm machinery selection, operation and management directly impact crop cultivation processes and outputs. A priori quantification of technical and financial needs allows definition of proportionate distribution and management of available resources and simplification of selection process. Appropriate planning, association and adjustment of the power unit and implement are required for soil cultivation. Consideration of functional parameters of the implement, their proper estimation and operation directly impact the soil structure, productivity and return on investment. Thus, a modelling approach was implemented for the definition of possible parameter-price relations for tillage equipment. The performed analysis allowed us to investigate the main relevant parameters, quantify their impact, and elaborate forecasting models for price, power, mass and working width. The significant relevance of the technical parameters and adjustment issues were outlined for each tillage implement group. For harrows and cultivators, the dependencies between studied parameters expressed better predictive qualities, especially for price-mass relation (R² > 0.8). While for ploughs power and mass relation had a primary output (R² = 0.7). The prediction features of the models provided reliable results for the estimation of the indicative values of the price and parameters of the implements.

The global demand for electrical and electronic equipment has undergone continuous growth in recent years due to the effect of industrialization and technological development. This indicates substantial quantities of e-waste that need to be managed properly to reduce their environmental impact and to avoid inappropriate forms of disposal. The purpose of this paper is to review the most popular multi-criteria decision-making approaches applied to the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment, analyzing how they are used to contribute to the improvement of management strategies along the entire supply chain. For this purpose, a methodological protocol for the collection, selection, and analysis of the scientific literature was applied, identifying 44 papers on which to conduct this study. The results showed that numerous authors have developed multi-criteria approaches, with particular attention to recycling phase. The analytic hierarchy process is the most widespread multi-criteria approach, often coupled with VIKOR, DELPHI, and TOPSIS methods. The numerous decision making criteria adopted cover different reference dimensions: environmental, economic, social, technical, and legal. Considering environmental aspects also in decision making processes means enhancing the relevance of this dimension, as well as encouraging practices that reduce the impact of toxic substances on the environment and living organisms.

Over the last two decades, the dairy industry has adopted the use of Automatic Milking Systems (AMS). AMS have the potential to increase the effectiveness of the milking process and sustain animal welfare. This study assessed the state of the art of research activities on AMS through a systematic review of scientific and industrial research. The papers and patents of the last 20 years (2000–2019) were analysed to assess the research tendencies. The words appearing in title, abstract and keywords of a total of 802 documents were processed with the text mining tool. Four clusters were identified (Components, Technology, Process and Animal). For each cluster, the words frequency analysis enabled us to identify the research tendencies and gaps. The results showed that focuses of the scientific and industrial research areas complementary, with scientific papers mainly dealing with topics related to animal and process, and patents giving priority to technology and components. Both scientific and industrial research converged on some crucial objectives, such as animal welfare, process sustainability and technological development. Despite the increasing interest in animal welfare, this review highlighted that further progress is needed to meet the consumers’ demand. Moreover, milk yield is still regarded as more valuable compared to milk quality. Therefore, additional effort is necessary on the latter. At the process level, some gaps have been found related to cleaning operations, necessary to improve milk quality and animal health. The use of farm data and their incorporation on herd decision support systems (DSS) appeared optimal. The results presented in this review may be used as an overall assessment useful to address future research.

Planting criteria of new vineyards should comply with rational and sustainable criteria, taking into account the potential mechanisability of existing viticultural areas. However, an established methodology for this assessment is still lacking. This study aimed at analysing the parameters which influence the vineyard mechanisability, with the objective to propose a new mechanisability index. The mechanisability index proposed was based on GIS-analysis of landscape and management parameters such as mean slope, shape of the vineyard block, length-width ratio, headland size, training system and row spacing. We identified a sample of 3686 vineyards in Italy. Based on the above-mentioned parameters, vineyards were categorised by their level of mechanisability (l.m.) into four classes. Moreover, we analysed the correlation between l.m. and economic indicators (area planted with vineyard and wine production). Results showed that the main factors limiting the mechanisability potential of some Italian regions are the elevated slopes, horizontal training systems and narrow vine spacings. The l.m. showed a moderate positive correlation with the size of vineyards and the volume and value of production. The methodology presented in this study may be easily applied to other viticultural areas around the world, serving as a management decision-making tool.

Many beneficial effects of coffee have been ascribed to the presence of chlorogenic acids. For this reason, some green coffee bean decaffeinated extracts claiming several beneficial effects are actually on the market as either nutraceuticals or food supplements. Herein, we compared the polyphenol content of green coffee beans, roasted coffee, spent coffee and silver-skins. The phenolic fraction of all samples was assessed using both colorimetric and HPLC-UV approaches, performing a full detailed identification and quantification of the phenols by liquid chromatography high-resolution mass spectrometry. Furthermore, we also evaluated the antioxidant activity of the different extracts. Notably, silver-skin extract possesses a superimposable profile compared to green coffee beans extract, and such a profile was unaltered by silver-skin decaffeination. This study reveals the perspective of using decaffeinated silver-skins as a low-cost raw material for the preparation of caffeine-free, chlorogenic acid-based food supplements and nutraceuticals.

Sensor applications are impacting the everyday objects that enhance human life quality. In this special issue, the main objective was to address recent advances of sensor applications in agriculture covering a wide range of topics in this field. A total of 14 articles were published in this special issue where nine of them were research articles, two review articles and two technical notes. The main topics were soil and plant sensing, farm management and post-harvest application. Soil-sensing topics include monitoring soil moisture content, drain pipes and topsoil movement during the harrowing process while plant-sensing topics include evaluating spray drift in vineyards, thermography applications for winter wheat and tree health assessment and remote-sensing applications as well. Furthermore, farm management contributions include food systems digitalization and using archived data from plowing operations, and one article in post-harvest application in sunflower seeds.

Technical and performance parameters of agricultural machines directly impact the operational efficiency and entire crop production. Sometimes, overestimation of technical and dimensional parameters of harvesting equipment is carried out with the intention of enhancing the operational efficiency, but this approach might turn out to negatively impact productivity due to unbalanced system design, and ultimately lead to financial losses. Therefore, a balanced preliminary estimation of technical parameters of equipment needs to be carried out before investment quantification, especially on the large capital-intensive machinery units, such as harvesting systems. In addition, availability of ready to use, simplified models for the price estimation from input technical parameters would reduce the complexity involved in this latter analysis. The current study is an attempt to provide tools to address these issues. A large dataset of combine and forage harvesters has been analyzed to investigate relevant parameter-to-parameter and parameter-to-price relations. The study of the available data allowed the determination of indicative models for the estimation of machine price, power, weight, tank capacity and working width. A significant correlation between power and price (R2 > 0.8) has been observed for two groups of harvesting machines. For combine harvesters, satisfactory correlations were found between power and weight, and power and tank capacity. A regression model for combine harvesters showed a satisfactory behavior at predicting the average working width that can be operated by a given power. On the other hand, for the forage harvesting group, the relation between these quantities has lower values; therefore, for better accuracy of the association, more sophisticated considerations should be incorporated, taking into account other parameters.

In a climate-change context, the advancement of phenological stages may endanger viticultural areas in the event of a late frost. This study evaluated the potential of satellite-based remote sensing to assess the damage and the recovery time after a late frost event in 2017 in northern Italian vineyards. Several vegetation indices (VIs) normalized on a two-year dataset (2018–2019) were compared over a frost-affected area (F) and a control area (NF) using unpaired two-sample t-test. Furthermore, the must quality data (total acidity, sugar content and pH) of F and NF were analyzed. The VIs most sensitive in the detection of frost damage were Chlorophyll Absorption Ratio Index (CARI), Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), and Modified Triangular Vegetation Index 1 (MTVI1) (−5.26%, −16.59%, and −5.77% compared to NF, respectively). The spectral bands Near-Infrared (NIR) and Red Edge 7 were able to identify the frost damage (−16.55 and −16.67% compared to NF, respectively). Moreover, CARI, EVI, MTVI1, NIR, Red Edge 7, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Modified Simple Ratio (MSR) provided precise information on the full recovery time (+17.7%, +22.42%, +29.67%, +5.89%, +5.91%, +16.48%, and +8.73% compared to NF, respectively) approximately 40 days after the frost event. The must analysis showed that total acidity was higher (+5.98%), and pH was lower (−2.47%) in F compared to NF. These results suggest that medium-resolution multispectral data from Sentinel-2 constellation may represent a cost-effective tool for frost damage assessment and recovery management.

Polyphenols are often ingested alongside dietary fibres. They are both catabolised by, and may influence, the intestinal microbiota; yet, interactions between them and the impact on their resultant microbial products are poorly understood. Dietary fibres (inulin, pectin, psyllium, pyrodextrin, wheat bran, cellulose—three doses) were fermented in vitro with human faeces (n = 10) with and without rutin (20 µg/mL), a common dietary flavonol glycoside. Twenty-eight phenolic metabolites and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) were measured over 24 h. Several phenolic metabolites were produced during fibre fermentation, without rutin. With rutin, 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (3,4diOHPAA), 3-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (3OHPAA), 3-(3 hydroxyphenyl)propionic acid (3OHPPA) and 3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)propionic acid (3,4diOHPPA; DOPAC) were produced, with 3,4diOHPAA the most abundant, confirmed by fermentation of 13C labelled quercetin. The addition of inulin, wheat bran or pyrodextrin increased 3,4diOHPAA 2 2.5-fold over 24 h (p < 0.05). Rutin affected SCFA production, but this depended on fibre, fibre concentration and timepoint. With inulin, rutin increased pH at 6 h from 4.9 to 5.6 (p = 0.01) but increased propionic, butyric and isovaleric acid (1.9, 1.6 and 5-fold, p < 0.05 at 24 h). Interactions between fibre and phenolics modify production of phenolic acids and SCFA and may be key in enhancing health benefits.

Meta-analyses have shown that supervised isometric handgrip training reduces blood pressure in hypertensives. However, the mechanism(s) underlying these effects in medicated hypertensive patients, as well as the effects from home-based exercise training, is uncertain. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of supervised and home-based isometric handgrip training on cardiovascular parameters in medicated hypertensives. In this randomized controlled trial, 72 hypertensive individuals (38–79 years old, 70% female) were randomly assigned to three groups: home-based, supervised isometric handgrip training or control groups. Home-based and supervised isometric handgrip training was completed thrice weekly (4 × 2 min at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction, with 1-min rest between bouts, alternating the hands). Before and after 12 weeks brachial, central and ambulatory blood pressures (BP), arterial stiffness, heart rate variability, vascular function, oxidative stress and inflammation markers were obtained. No significant (p > 0.05) effect was observed for ambulatory BP, arterial stiffness, heart rate variability, vascular function and oxidative stress and inflammatory markers in all three groups. Brachial BP decreased in the supervised group (Systolic: 132 ± 4 vs. 120 ± 3 mmHg; Diastolic: 71 ± 2 vs. 66 ± 2 mmHg, p < 0.05), whereas no significant differences were observed in the home-based (Systolic: 130 ± 4 vs. 126 ± 3 mmHg; diastolic: 73 ± 3 vs. 71 ± 3 mmHg) and control groups (p > 0.05). Supervised handgrip exercise also reduced central BP systolic (120 ± 5 vs. 109 ± 5 mmHg), diastolic (73 ± 2 vs. 67 ± 2 mmHg); and mean BP (93 ± 3 vs. 84 ± 3 mmHg), whereas no significant effects were found in the home-based (Systolic: 119 ± 4 vs. 115 ± 3 mmHg; Diastolic: 74 ± 3 vs. 71 ± 3 mmHg) and control groups (p > 0.05). In conclusion, supervised, but not home-based, isometric training lowered brachial and central BP in hypertensives.

The increasing demand of vegetal biomass for biogas production is causing competition with food production. To reduce this problem and to provide new opportunities it is necessary to take into consideration different kinds of vegetable biomass that are more sustainable. Grass from the maintenance of non-cultivated areas such as riverbanks has not yet been fully studied as a potential biomass for biogas production. Although grass has lower methane potential, it could be interesting because it does not compete with food production. However, there is a lack of appropriate technologies and working system adapted to these areas. In this paper, different systems that could be available for the mowing and harvesting of grass along riverbanks have been preliminarily assessed through the evaluation of the field capacity, labour requirement, economic and energy aspects. The splitting of the cutting and harvesting phases into operations with different machinery seems to be the best system for handling this biomass. However, these solutions have to take into consideration the presence of obstacles or accessibility problems in the harvesting areas that could limit the operational feasibility and subsequent correct sizing.

Presentacion. Capitulo I- Encuadre Metodologioco. Pag. 1 1. Delimitación del problema 2. La participación social: precisiones conceptuales 3. Aspectos metodológicos 4. El estado de la cuestion Capitulo II. Los Sectores Elegidos Pag. 18 1. Criterios de selección 2. Descripción del Sector Lácteo 3. Descripción del Sector Máquinas-Herramientas Capitulo III. Marco Teorico Refencial Pag. 39 1. El contexto económico internacional y las políticas de inserción 2. Los nuevos regionalismos 3. El comportamiento de los actores en el MERCOSUR Capitulo IV. Participacion Social e Integracion Pag. 51 1. Tratamiento en la Unión Europea 2. Tratamiento en los procesos de Integración Latinoamericanos y Caribeños 3. Tratamiento en el MERCOSUR 4. De la funcionalidad jurídico-institucional estatal a la regional Capitulo V. Los Actores Productivos en el MERCOSUR 1. Las formas de organización de los intereses grupales 2. Caracterización de los actores 3. La participación de las organizaciones empresariales argentinas en el MERCOSUR 4. Las organizaciones sindicales Capitulo VI. La Unidad de Analisis como Objeto de Estudio Pag. 154 1. Resultados obtenidos 2. Conclusiones Capitulo VII. Viabilidad del MERCOSUR: Condicionantes y Conclusiones Pag. 180 1. Los condicionantes 2. Conclusiones Bibliografia General 186

Soil compaction is a critical issue in agriculture having a significant influence on crop growth. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) is accounted as a crop susceptible to compaction. Reduction of leaf area, final yield, and root quality parameters are reported in compacted soils. The most obvious visual indicator of topsoil compaction is root depth affected by agricultural tractor and machinery traffic up on the soil. Such indicators are mainly correlated to initial soil condition, tyre features, and number of passages. Monitoring and controlling frequency and position of machine traffic across the field, in such a way that passages are completed on specific, well-defined tracks, can assist with minimization of compaction effects on soil. The objective of the present work was to analyze the subsoil compaction during the growing period of sugar beet with different farming approaches including controlled traffic passages and random traffic. To this end, tests were carried out following each agro technical operation using penetrometer readings in order to monitor the state of cone-index after each step. In addition, at the harvesting time, root quality parameters were analyzed with particular attention to length and regularity of the taproot, total length, circumference, mass, and above-ground biomass. Such parameters were usefully implemented in order to evaluate the effects of controlled traffic passages compared to the random traffic in a cultivation of sugar beet. Results highlight how an increase in crop yield, derived from samples monitored, higher than 10% can be expected with implementation of a careful traffic management.

Citral is a natural compound that has shown cytotoxic and antiproliferative effects on breast and hematopoietic cancer cells; however, there are few studies on melanoma cells. Oxidative stress is known to be involved in all stages of melanoma development and is able to modulate intracellular pathways related to cellular proliferation and death. In this study, we hypothesize that citral exerts its cytotoxic effect on melanoma cells by the modulation of cellular oxidative status and/or intracellular signaling. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects of citral on B16F10 murine melanoma cells evaluating its effects on cellular oxidative stress, DNA damage, cell death, and important signaling pathways, as these pathways, namely, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2), AKT, and phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase, are involved in cell proliferation and differentiation. The p53 and nuclear factor kappa B were also investigated due to their ability to respond to intracellular stress. We observed that citral exerted antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects in B16F10; induced oxidative stress, DNA lesions, and p53 nuclear translocation; and reduced nitric oxide levels and nuclear factor kappa B, ERK1/2, and AKT. To investigate citral specificity, we used non-neoplastic human and murine cells, HaCaT (human skin keratinocytes) and NIH-3T3 cells (murine fibroblasts), and observed that although citral effects were not specific for cancer cells, non-neoplastic cells were more resistant to citral than B16F10. These findings highlight the potential clinical utility of citral in melanoma, with a mechanism of action involving the oxidative stress generation, nitric oxide depletion, and interference in signaling pathways related to cell proliferation.

El concepte d’atemptat social va ser utilitzat per definir les formes de violència que van caracteritzar l’època del pistolerisme. Aquesta idea evidenciava un aspecte singular de la violència sindical a Barcelona: l’existència d’agressions individualitzades que contrastaven amb el caràcter col·lectiu que va mantenir el fenomen en altres contextos. L’article analitza el sorgiment d’aquesta violència a través de tres moments decisius: el pas d’una política d’ordre públic reactiva a una preventiva després de la vaga general de 1902, l’aparició d’atemptats organitzats durant les vagues metal·lúrgiques de 1910 i els primers atacs contra empresaris de la indústria tèxtil.

A correct soil moisture estimation is a fundamental prerequisite for many applications: agriculture, meteorological forecast, flood and drought prediction, and, in general, water accounting and management. Traditional methods typically provide point-like measurements, but suffer from soil heterogeneity, which can produce significant misinterpretation of the hydrological scenarios. In the last decade, cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) has emerged as a promising approach for the detection of soil moisture content. CRNS can average soil moisture over a large volume (up to tens of hectares) of terrain with only one probe, thus overcoming limitations arising from the heterogeneity of the soil. The present paper introduces the development of a new CRNS instrument designed for agricultural applications and based on an innovative neutron detector. The new instrument was applied and tested in two experimental fields located in Potsdam (DE, Germany) and Lagosanto (IT, Italy). The results highlight how the new detector could be a valid alternative and robust solution for the application of the CRNS technique for soil moisture measurements in agriculture.

The Operational Linescan System (OLS) carried by the National Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) can capture the weak visible radiation emitted from earth at night and produce a series of annual cloudless nighttime light (NTL) images, effectively supporting multi-scale, long-term human activities and urbanization process research. However, the interannual instability and sensor bias of NTL time series products greatly limit further studies of lighting data in time series with OLS. Several calibration models for OLS have been proposed to implement interannual corrections to improve the continuity and consistency of time series NTL products; however, due to the subjective factors intervention and insufficient automation in the calibration process, the interannual correction study of NTL time series images is still worth being developed further. Therefore, to avoid the involvement of subjective factors and to optimize the Pseudo-Invariant Features (PIF) identification, an interannual calibration model Pixel-based PIF (PBPIF) is proposed, which identifies PIF by pixel fluctuation characteristics. Results show that a PBPIF-based model can reduce subjective interference and improve the degree of automation during the NTL interannual calibration process. The calibration performance evaluation based on Total Sum of Lights (TSOL) and Sum of the Normalized Difference Index (SNDI) shows that compared to the traditional PIF-based (tPIF-based) and Ridgeline Sampling Regression based (RSR-based) models, the PBPIF-based one achieves better performance in reducing NTL interannual turbulence and minimizing the deviation between sensors. In addition, based on the corrected NTL time series products, pixel-level linear regression analysis is implemented to maximize the potential of the NTL resolution to produce global Light Intensity Change Coefficient (LICC). The results of global LICC can be widely applied to the detailed study of the characteristics of economic development and urbanization.

Water scarcity is worsened by climate change. Water savings can be reached by improving irrigation efficiency both on farm and on water supply. To do that, the choice of the best irrigation technology is not always straightforward, because farmers need to renew and implement farm infrastructures for irrigation. This study compares three irrigation systems, one drip irrigation and two sprinkler (center pivot and hose-reel) systems, on environmental, economic, and energetic performance under irrigated and non-irrigated maize cropping. The study combines impact and efficiency indicators, addressing a sustainability analysis for the irrigation practice under the three different irrigation systems. The sustainability for the irrigation systems was assessed using water-related indicators (water use efficiency, irrigation water use efficiency, and water footprint), biomass (crop growth rate, relative growth rate, harvest index, and yield response factor), and energy indicators (energy footprint, performance, and energy cost footprint) for the environmental aspect; and the economic-based indicators (water productivity and economic water footprint) for the economic aspect. Main results address the center pivot system as the best solution for irrigation practice since it demonstrated higher economic and environmental performance. Moreover, maize under the pivot system allowed a higher biomass production, economic benefits, and water use efficiency.

Harrowing is a process that reduces the size of soil clods and prepares the field for seeding. Rotary harrows are a common piece of equipment in North Italy that consists of teeth rotating around a vertical axis with a processing depth of 5−15 cm. In this study, the topsoil movement in terms of distance and direction were estimated at different rotary harrow working conditions. A total of eight tests was performed using two forward speeds of 1 and 3 km/h, two working depths of 6 and 10 cm and two levelling bar positions of 0 and 10 cm from the ground. In order to simulate and follow topsoil movement, Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) tags were inserted into cork stoppers and distributed in a regular pattern over the soil. Tags were distributed in six lines along the working width and repeated in three rows for each test: a total number of 144 tags was tracked. Results showed that there were no significant differences between the performed tests, on the other hand the reported tests highlight the effectiveness of the RFID monitoring approach.

As an important tropospheric trace gas and precursor of photochemical smog, the accumulation of NO2 will cause serious air pollution. China, as the largest developing country in the world, has experienced a large amount of NO2 emissions in recent decades due to the rapid economic growth. Compared with the traditional air pollution monitoring technology, the rapid development of the remote sensing monitoring method of atmospheric satellite has gradually become the critical technical means of global atmospheric environmental monitoring. To reveal the NO2 pollution situation in China, based on the latest NO2 products from Sentinel-5P TROPOMI, the spatial−temporal characteristics and impact factors of troposphere NO2 column concentration of mainland China in the past year (February 2018 to January 2019) were analyzed on two administrative levels for the first time. Results show that the monthly fluctuation of tropospheric NO2 column concentration has obvious characteristics of “high in winter and low in summer”, while the spatial distribution forms a “high in East and low in west” pattern, bounded by Hu Line. The comparison of Coefficient of Variation (CV) and spatial autocorrelation models at two kinds of administrative scales indicates that although the spatial heterogeneity of NO2 column concentration is less affected by the observed scale, there is a “delayed effect” of about one month in the process of NO2 column concentration fluctuation. Besides, the impact factors analysis based on Spatial Lag Model (SLM) and Geographic Weighted Regression (GWR) reveals that there is a positive correlation between nighttime light intensity, the secondary and tertiary industries proportion and NO2 column concentration. Furthermore, for regions with serious NO2 pollution in North China Plain, the whole society electricity consumption and vehicle ownership also play a positive role in increasing the NO2 column concentration. This study will enlighten the government and policy makers to formulate policies tailored to local conditions, to more effectively implement NO2 emission reduction and air pollution prevention.

Climate is the most relevant factor influencing the ripening of high quality grapes to produce a given wine style. This notion should be taken into account, given the increase of extreme weather events (EWE) related to climate change. Under this evolving climate scenario, North-East Italian wine regions have seen a recent expansion, potentially disregarding optimal planting choices. The use of marginal land, indeed, could lead to the establishment of vineyards in areas where it is not possible to take advantage of the best row orientation, slope and aspect. Under these conditions, the consequences of some EWE may be more severe. The objective of this study is to verify whether planting options in combination with climate conditions, may affect yield and fruit quality. An area localised in Northern Italy was analysed for row orientation and slope, taking advantage of QGIS tools. The area was also examined for climate conditions, using weather conditions and climate indices. Such variables were combined with 10-year yield and must composition of four varieties (Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Merlot and Glera) by using linear regression. The paper reports the most significant relationships between climatic conditions and grapevine composition. The results showed high positive correlation between sugar concentration and the number of frost days during the year in three varieties. The sugar content was positively correlated with the relative humidity in June in three varieties and negatively correlated with the number of days with a temperature >25°C during the month of June in two varieties. The content of tartaric acid showed high correlations with thermal indices of May in all varieties.

Herein, we reported a detailed profiling of soluble components of two fermented varieties of Chinese green tea, namely raw and ripe pu-erh. The identification and quantification of the main components was carried out by means of mass spectrometry and UV spectroscopy, after chromatographic separation. The antioxidant capacity towards different radical species, the anti-microbial and the enzyme inhibition activities of the extracts were then correlated to their main constituents. Despite a superimposable qualitative composition, a similar caffeine content, and similar enzyme inhibition and antimicrobial activities, raw pu-erh tea extract had a better antioxidant capacity owing to its higher polyphenol content. However, the activity of raw pu-erh tea seems not to justify its higher production costs and ripe variety appears to be a valid and low-cost alternative for the preparation of products with antioxidant or antimicrobial properties.

Machine functional parameters define fleet composition and management and, thus, play an important role in economic and environmental performance. Large availability of programming methods and decision support systems are available in the market, however, there is still a lack of applicative tools to forecast the perceived and necessary technical parameters and machinery price options to complete tasks. In the current research, most correlated functional parameters for four group of seeding machines were determined with the application of linear and multiple linear regression analyses. Power, weight, working width, number of rows, and list price were studied, and reference equations were developed for seed drills, precision, combined and no-tillage planters. Two statistical analyses models were, therefore, developed for each of the groups in order to allow evaluation and prediction of performance and cost, thus contributing to the selection process optimisation and perceived choice of the needed implement.