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Forests play a key role in the carbon cycle and the fight against climate change. Long-term monitoring of forest dynamics represents a key element for understanding forests transformations due to forest harvestings and disturbances including fires, wind storms, frost or drought events, and pathogen attacks. This work aims at mapping and evaluating the forest disturbances that have occurred in Italy since 1985, using Landsat satellite imagery and apposite algorithms. We predicted about 1.8 million forest disturbances occurring during the observation period. Disturbances ranged between 27.923 ha in 2014 and 261.733 ha in 1985. Most of the forest disturbances have been identified in Sicilia and Calabria. Commission errors fluctuated between 29% in 2012 and 65% in 2001 while omission errors were between 8% in 2014 and 88% in 2003. The results that we present in this work can increase our understanding of Italian forests, and serve as basis for future research, while the methodology we applied can support the production of official statistics on forest disturbances.

Poplars are one of the most widespread fast-growing tree species used for forest plantations. Owing to their distinct features (fast growth and short rotation) and the dependency on the timber pric...

Forests produce a wide range of ecosystem services, including the traditional wood production. Sustainable forest management approaches are used to locally calibrate wood harvesting on the basis of local conditions and should not adversely affect other ecosystem services. To assess forest harvesting sustainability and impacts it is essential to know their spatial distribution. At the present date accurate statistics on wood harvesting are not available in Italy. In this context, remote sensing and automatic mapping algorithms constitute an important tool for providing spatially explicit information to quantify wood harvesting and thus supporting more sustainable forest management approaches. In this work we tested an automatic mapping algorithm (3I3D) using multitemporal Sentinel-2 imagery to produce a map of forest disturbance produced by different types of wood harvesting in the province of Arezzo for the year 2018. Thanks to a photo-interpretation work of high resolution PlanetScope imagery and field data collected by the Carabinieri Forestali, we were able to calculate commission (2%) and omission (18%) errors of the automatic 3I3D map. The results of this work motivate the introduction of remote sensing tools as a support for monitoring and quantification of forest wood harvesting.

Forest planning, forest management, and forest policy require updated, reliable, and harmonized spatial datasets. In Italy a national geographic Forest Information System (FIS) designed to store and facilitate the access and analysis of spatial datasets is still missing. Among the different information layers which are useful to start populating a FIS, two are essential for their multiple use in the assessment of forest resources: (i) forest mapping, and (ii) data from Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS). Both layers are not available wall-to-wall for Italy, though different local sources of information potentially useful for their implementation already exist. The objectives of this work were to: (i) review forest maps and ALS data availability in Italy; (ii) develop for the first time a high resolution forest mask of Italy which was validated against the official statistics of the Italian National Forest Inventory; (iii) develop the first mosaic of all the main ALS data available in Italy producing a consistent Canopy Height Model (CHM). An on-line geographic FIS with free access to both layers from (ii) and (iii) was developed for demonstration purposes. The total area of forest and other wooded lands computed from the forest mask was 102.608.82 km2 (34% of the Italian territory), i.e., 1.9% less than the NFI benchmark estimate. This map is currently the best wall-to-wall forest mask available for Italy. We showed that only the 63% of the Italian territory (the 60% of the forest area) is covered by ALS data. These results highlight the urgent need for a national strategy to complete the availability of forest data in Italy.

Poplar (Populus spp.) plantations are globally widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, and provide a wide range of benefits and products, including timber, carbon sequestration and phytoremediation. Because of poplar specific features (fast growth, short rotation) the information needs require frequent updates, which exceed the traditional scope of National Forest Inventories, implying the need for ad-hoc monitoring solutions.Here we presented a regional-level multi-scale monitoring system developed for poplar plantations, which is based on the integration of different remotely-sensed informations at different spatial scales, developed in Lombardy (Northern Italy) region. The system is based on three levels of information: 1) At plot scale, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) was used to develop non-destructive tree stem volume allometries in calibration sites; the produced allometries were then used to estimate plot-level stand parameters from field inventory; additional canopy structure attributes were derived using field digital cover photography. 2) At farm level, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) equipped with multispectral sensors were used to upscale results obtained from field data. 3) Finally, both field and unmanned aerial estimates were used to calibrate a regional-scale supervised continuous monitoring system based on multispectral Sentinel-2 imagery, which was implemented and updated in a Google Earth Engine platform.The combined use of multi-scale information allowed an effective management and monitoring of poplar plantations. From a top-down perspective, the continuous satellite monitoring system allowed the detection of early warning poplar stress, which are suitable for variable rate irrigation and fertilizing scheduling. From a bottom-up perspective, the spatially explicit nature of TLS measurements allows better integration with remotely sensed data, enabling a multiscale assessment of poplar plantation structure with different levels of detail, enhancing conventional tree inventories, and supporting effective management strategies. Finally, use of UAV is key in poplar plantations as their spatial resolution is suited for calibrating metrics from coarser remotely-sensed products, reducing or avoiding the need of ground measurements, with a significant reduction of time and costs.

Several political initiatives aim to achieve net-zero emissions by the middle of the twenty-first century. In this context, forests are crucial as a carbon sink to store unavoidable emissions. Assessing the carbon sequestration potential of forest ecosystems is pivotal to the availability of accurate forest variable estimates for supporting international reporting and appropriate forest management strategies. Spatially explicit estimates are even more important for Mediterranean countries such as Italy, where the capacity of forests to act as sinks is decreasing due to climate change. This study aimed to develop a spatial approach to obtain high-resolution maps of Italian forest above-ground biomass (ITA-BIO) and current annual volume increment (ITA-CAI), based on remotely sensed and meteorological data. The ITA-BIO estimates were compared with those obtained with two available biomass maps developed in the framework of two international projects (i.e., the Joint Research Center and the European Space Agency biomass maps, namely, JRC-BIO and ESA-BIO). The estimates from ITA-BIO, JRC-BIO, ESA-BIO, and ITA-CAI were compared with the 2nd Italian NFI (INFC) official estimates at regional level (NUT2). The estimates from ITA-BIO are in good agreement with the INFC estimates (R2 = 0.95, mean difference = 3.8 t ha−1), while for JRC-BIO and ESA-BIO, the estimates show R2 of 0.90 and 0.70, respectively, and mean differences of 13.5 and of 21.8 t ha−1 with respect to the INFC estimates. ITA-CAI estimates are also in good agreement with the INFC estimates (R2 = 0.93), even if they tend to be slightly biased. The produced maps are hosted on a web-based forest resources management Decision Support System developed under the project AGRIDIGIT (ForestView) and represent a key element in supporting the new Green Deal in Italy, the European Forest Strategy 2030 and the Italian Forest Strategy.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the refractive outcomes of the new Carlevale foldable sutureless scleral fixation intraocular lens (SSF-IOL) (Soleko in eyes without capsular support. METHODS: This retrospective, single-center, noncomparative interventional case series included 25 consecutive eyes of 25 consecutive patients with either aphakia or lens/IOL dislocation due to capsular or zonular defects. The Hoffer Q, Holladay 1, and SRK/T formulas, which do not need measurements of the anterior chamber depth to predict the IOL position, were used to calculate the IOL power. Constant optimization was performed to zero out the mean prediction error (PE). The main outcome measures were mean PE ± standard deviation, median absolute error (MedAE), mean absolute error (MAE), and percentage of eyes with a PE within ±0.50 and ±1.00 diopters (D). RESULTS: Mean axial length was 24.09 ± 2.09 mm (range: 21.85 to 32.17 mm). No statistically significant differences were found among the three formulas for any parameter. The PE was zero due to constant optimization and its standard deviation ranged between 0.89 and 0.95 D. The MedAE ranged between 0.30 and 0.34 D, whereas the MAE ranged between 0.62 and 0.67 D. The percentage of eyes with a PE within ±0.50 D was between 56% and 64% and the percentage of eyes with a PE within ±1.00 D was between 69% and 72%. CONCLUSIONS: Reasonably good refractive outcomes can be obtained when implanting SSF-IOLs in eyes with no capsular support, although the accuracy is lower than what is reported for normal in-the-bag IOL implantation. [ J Refract Surg . 2021;37(7):472–476.]

On October 29, 2018, the Vaia storm hits the North-Eastern regions of Italy by wind gusts exceeding 200 km h-1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. This contribution illustrates the methodology adopted in the emergency phase to estimate forest damages caused by Vaia storm, both in terms of damaged forest areas and growing stock volume of fallen trees. 494 Municipalities registered forest damages caused by Vaia, destroyed or intensely damaged forest stands amounted to about 42.500 ha, spread in Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and, only marginally, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. The growing stock volume of fallen trees was about 8.5 millions m3.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the visual outcomes and possible complications of a new foldable sutureless scleral fixation intraocular lens (SSF-IOL), the Carlevale IOL (Soleko). METHODS: The SSF-IOL, which has two T-shaped self-blocking plugs on each haptic, was inserted into the posterior chamber. Both haptics was grabbed through two sclerotomies and the two short arms were blocked under the scleral flap, without any suture. A complete clinical evaluation was done preoperatively and at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. RESULTS: A total of 54 eyes of 50 consecutive patients were retrospectively analyzed. The mean corrected distance visual acuity was 0.93 ± 0.61 logMAR preoperatively and improved to 0.42 ± 0.34 logMAR at 3 months, 0.42 ± 0.37 logMAR at 6 months, and 0.38 ± 0.38 logMAR at 12 months postoperatively (all P < .0001). The mean corneal endothelial cell density decreased from 1,725.37 ± 528.06 to 1,612.81 ± 522.91 cells/mm 2 at 12 months postoperatively ( P < .0001). The mean IOL tilt value was 3.1 ± 1.1° at 12 months postoperatively. The authors observed 6 cases (11.1%) of intraoperative rupture of the IOL haptics, 4 cases (7.4%) of early hyphema, 4 cases (7.4%) of macular cystoid edema, 2 cases (3.7%) of haptic exposure under the conjunctiva, and 1 (1.8%) late retinal detachment. CONCLUSIONS: This newly introduced surgical technique provided promising results regarding efficacy and safety. Complications occurred in a few cases and were successfully managed. The Carlevale IOL seems to be a surgical solution combining the advantages of an easy and minimally invasive implantation with a good functional recovery with minimal complications. [ J Refract Surg . 2021;37(2):126–132.]

Growing demand for wood products, combined with efforts to conserve natural forests, have supported a steady increase in the global extent of planted forests. Here, a two-phase sampling strategy for large-scale assessment of the total area and the total wood volume of fast-growing forest tree crops within agricultural land is presented. The first phase is performed using tessellation stratified sampling on high-resolution remotely sensed imagery and is sufficient for estimating the total area of plantations by means of a Monte Carlo integration estimator. The second phase is performed using stratified sampling of the plantations selected in the first phase and is aimed at estimating total wood volume by means of an approximation of the first-phase Horvitz-Thompson estimator. Vegetation indices from Sentinel-2 are exploited as freely available auxiliary information in a linear regression estimator to improve the design-based precision of the estimator based on the sole sample data. Estimators of the totals and of the design-based variances of total estimators are presented. A simulation study is developed in order to check the design-based performance of the two alternative estimators under several artificial distributions supposed for poplar plantations (random, clustered, spatially trended). An application in Northern Italy is also reported. The regression estimator turns out to be invariably better than that based on the sole sample information. Possible integrations of the proposed sampling scheme with conventional national forest inventories adopting tessellation stratified sampling in the first phase are discussed.

Mapping forest disturbances is an essential component of forest monitoring systems both to support local decisions and for international reporting. Between the 28 and 29 October 2018, the VAIA storm hit the Northeast regions of Italy with wind gusts exceeding 200 km h−1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. Over 490 Municipalities in six administrative Regions in Northern Italy registered forest damages caused by VAIA, that destroyed or intensely damaged forest stands spread over an area of 67,000 km2. The present work tested the use of two continuous change detection algorithms, i.e., the Bayesian estimator of abrupt change, seasonal change, and trend (BEAST) and the continuous change detection and classification (CCDC) to map and estimate forest windstorm damage area using a normalized burned ration (NBR) time series calculated on three years Sentinel-2 (S2) images collection (i.e., January 2017–October 2019). We analyzed the accuracy of the maps and the damaged forest area using a probability-based stratified estimation within 12 months after the storm with an independent validation dataset. The results showed that close to the storm (i.e., 1 to 6 months November 2018–March 2019) it is not possible to obtain accurate results independently of the algorithm used, while accurate results were observed between 7 and 12 months from the storm (i.e., May 2019 – October 2019) in terms of Standard Error (SE), percentage SE (SE%), overall accuracy (OA), producer accuracy (PA), user accuracy (UA), and gmean for both BEAST and CCDC (SE&lt, 3725.3 ha , SE% &lt, 9.69 , OA &gt, 89.7, PA and UA &gt, 0.87, gmean &gt, 0.83).

La voce affronta l’evoluzione del criterio della meritevolezza degli interessi, indagandone la genesi e poi analizzandone le principali concezioni. Da questo esame emerge che la meritevolezza fonda un giudizio di impronta causale sul contratto, principalmente atipico ma anche, sotto certi aspetti, su quello tipico, che va distinto da quello di liceità. La meritevolezza dà infatti forma a una delle due anime del sindacato sulla causa del contratto: quello teso a riscontrare il fondamento del contratto sul terreno economico e sociale tramite una valutazione di natura tipologica sulla razionalità dello schema di composizione degli interessi e sulla consistenza e diffusione di questi ultimi; e al contempo volto a verificare la coerenza tra la tipologia contrattuale prescelta dalle parti e il fine pratico del contratto. In questo quadro, non vanno giudicati con favore i recenti impieghi che del criterio della meritevolezza va facendo la giurisprudenza al fine di attuare, invece, forme di controllo sul contenuto del contratto o di ridefinizione per via giudiziale dell’equilibrio complessivo del regolamento. La proposta dogmatica avanzata nella voce ruota intorno all’ancoraggio del sindacato di meritevolezza a un parametro di giudizio oggettivo, idoneo a contenere entro margini ragionevoli l’apprezzamento del giudice su un terreno tanto delicato come è quello della rilevanza giuridica e della chiarezza del contratto. The encyclopedia entry addresses the evolution of the criterion of the "meritevolezza" of interests, investigating its genesis and then analyzing its main concepts. From this examination it emerges that the "meritevolezza" bases a judgment focused on the "causa" of the contract, mainly atypical but also, in some respects, on the typical one. And this judgment must be distinguished from that of lawfulness. In fact, the "meritevolezza" gives shape to one of the two souls of the judgment on the "causa" of the contract: the one aimed at finding the basis of the contract on the economic and social field through a typological evaluation of the rationality of the scheme of composition of interests and on the consistency and diffusion of this last; and at the same time aimed at verifying the consistency between the type of contract chosen by the parties and the practical purpose of the contract. In this context, the recent uses that the jurisprudence is making of the "meritevolezza" criterion in order to implement, instead, forms of control on the content of the contract or redefinition by judicial means of the overall balance of the regulation should not be judged favorably. The dogmatic proposal put forward in the entry revolves around anchoring the "meritevolezza" trade union to an objective judgment parameter, capable of containing within reasonable margins the judge's appreciation on such a delicate terrain as that of the legal relevance and clarity of the contract.

Il saggio affronta il tema dell'usura in astratto e dei costi dei finanziamenti, specie di quelli con piano di ammortamento prestabilito, da prendere in considerazione ai fini del superamento del tasso soglia previsto dalla fattispecie dell'usura in astratto di cui all'art. 644, comma 3, cpv. 1 , c.p. In particolare, il saggio affronta il nodo controverso dell'inclusione o meno in tali costi delle clausole di predeterminazione del tasso degli interessi moratori. L'inclusione è esclusa dalla Banca d'Italia, dalla giurisprudenza dell'Arbitro bancario e finanziario e da una parte della dottrina; mentre sembrerebbe ammessa dalla Corte di cassazione e da un settore della dottrina. L'autore propende per l'inclusione degli interessi moratori, sulla base di considerazioni di ordine concettuale legate alla disciplina delle obbligazioni pecuniarie e alla natura della clausola contrattuale di predeterminazione del tasso moratorio, nonché alla luce della prassi bancaria, sostanzialmente anatocistica, di calcolo degli interessi moratori sulla rata insoluta inclusiva degli interessi convenzionali corrispettivi. Il saggio si chiude con la questione rilevantissima della scelta del rimedio da applicare nel caso di superamento del tasso soglia a causa delle clausole di predeterminazione del tasso degli interessi moratori. L'autore propone una lettura innovativa, fondata sul ricorso alla nullità parziale.

Il contributo espone criticamente i contenuti dell'art. 62, c.cons., come introdotto dal d.lgs. n. 21/2014, di recepimento della direttiva 2011/83/UE, in materia di diritti dei consumatori.