Integrating urban and port planning policies in a sustainable perspective: the case study of Naples historic harbour area

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the case of the historic harbour area of Naples, considered highly significant, due to its physical and cultural characteristics, with the aim of reflecting on the contemporary need for building renewed and synergic city–port relations in a sustainable perspective. Focusing on the physical and functional city–port integration, the study investigates Naples harbour planning policy between twentieth and twenty-first centuries in order to identify the limitations of older instruments and to exam the current proposal, finally suggesting perspectives for the future. The analysis highlights the fact that, in the port of Naples, with a landlord governance, the main obstacles to a more inclusive planning policy have been related to land use conflict between on one hand the public interest of the Port Authority and Municipality and the private interest of port operators on the other. In conclusion, the need for city–port plan integration is outlined as a central planning issue so as to combine the economic development of the harbour with social, cultural and ecological themes and to overcome the conflicts between the different actors involved in the complex planning process.     

Monitoring Phenolic Composition of Maturing Maize Stover by High Performance Liquid Chromatography and Pyrolysis/Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry*

Maize stovers collected every 14 days over an 84-day growth period were subjected to high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detector (HPLC-ED) and pyrolysis/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (PY/GC/MS) in order to monitor changes in the phenolic composition. Prior to HPLC-ED analyses, ground samples were sequentially extracted with (i) methanol, (ii) 0·1M sodium hydroxide and (iii) 2M sodium hydroxide in the presence of nitrobenzene to separate, respectively, free phenolic monomers, alkali-labile phenolic monomers and alkali-resistant lignin. In turn, solution (ii) was treated with alkaline nitrobenzene to obtain (iv) alkali-labile lignin. Pyrolysis was carried out on ground native samples by using a platinum heated filament pyrolyser. Increases in the absolute phenolic concentrations in the residues of 0·1M sodium hydroxide extraction and in the ratio of alkali-resistant lignin vs total lignin were observed by HPLC-ED during the first 28–42 days of maturation, reaching a steady level in the remaining maturation period. A linear increase of syringyl units vs guaiacyl units was for found the alkali-resistant lignin fraction over the entire period of maturation. Similar trends were showed by PY/GC/MS with regard to relative lignin content and syringyl/guaiacyl ratio. Both techniques showed their usefulness to gauge changes in the phenolic composition during the lignification process.     

Gaucher Disease Diagnosis Using Lyso-Gb1 on Dry Blood Spot Samples: Time to Change the Paradigm?

For years, the gold standard for diagnosing Gaucher disease (GD) has been detecting reduced β-glucocerebrosidase (GCase) activity in peripheral blood cells combined with GBA1 mutation analysis. The use of dried blood spot (DBS) specimens offers many advantages, including easy collection, the need for a small amount of blood, and simpler transportation. However, DBS has limitations for measuring GCase activity. In this paper, we recount our cross-sectional study and publish seven years of experience using DBS samples and levels of the deacylated form of glucocerebroside, glucosylsphingosine (lyso-Gb1), for GD diagnosis. Of 444 screened subjects, 99 (22.3%) were diagnosed with GD at a median (range) age of 21 (1–78) years. Lyso-Gb levels for genetically confirmed GD patients vs. subjects negative to GD diagnosis were 252 (9–1340) ng/mL and 5.4 (1.5–16) ng/mL, respectively. Patients diagnosed with GD1 and mild GBA1 variants had lower median (range) lyso-Gb1, 194 (9–1050), compared to GD1 and severe GBA1 variants, 447 (38–1340) ng/mL, and neuronopathic GD, 325 (116–1270) ng/mL (p = 0.001). Subjects with heterozygous GBA1 variants (carrier) had higher lyso-Gb1 levels, 5.8 (2.5–15.3) ng/mL, compared to wild-type GBA1, 4.9 (1.5–16), ng/mL (p = 0.001). Lyso-Gb1 levels, median (range), were 5 (2.7–10.7) in heterozygous GBA1 carriers with Parkinson’s disease (PD), similar to lyso-Gb1 levels in subjects without PD. We call for a paradigm change for the diagnosis of GD based on lyso-Gb1 measurements and confirmatory GBA1 mutation analyses in DBS. Lyso-Gb1 levels could not be used to differentiate between heterozygous GBA1 carriers and wild type.     

Pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse pretreated with sulfuric acid

Pyrolysis is a promising technique for the recovery of useful gas, tar, and solid products from biomass waste. However, the low tar yields obtained from lignocellulosic biomass are a significant drawback. To enhance tar yields, sugarcane bagasse, which is the most abundant agricultural waste in Fiji, was pretreated at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure using various sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) concentrations. Here, the ether bonds of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin were partially hydrolyzed. The pretreated samples were then pyrolyzed at 500 °C, and it was confirmed that H₂SO₄-pretreatment disrupted the bagasse cell structure, with the thermogravimetry and differential thermogravimetry results confirming that decomposition occurred at lower temperatures after pretreatment. In addition, tar yields were significantly enhanced from 5.6 wt% to 13.4 wt% for the untreated and 3 M H₂SO₄-pretreated samples respectively. The main components detected in this tar product were levoglucosan, andcellulose-and hemicellulose-derived products, whose proportions were increased following pretreatment. Thus, our work demonstrates that dilute acid pretreatment enhances tar production from sugarcane bagasse due to the production of shorter chain components via the partial hydrolysis of ether bonds.     

Host Restriction Factors Modulating HIV Latency and Replication in Macrophages

In addition to CD4⁺ T lymphocytes, myeloid cells and, particularly, differentiated macrophages are targets of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection via the interaction of gp120Env with CD4 and CCR5 or CXCR4. Both T cells and macrophages support virus replication, although with substantial differences. In contrast to activated CD4⁺ T lymphocytes, HIV-1 replication in macrophages occurs in nondividing cells and it is characterized by the virtual absence of cytopathicity both in vitro and in vivo. These general features should be considered in evaluating the role of cell-associated restriction factors aiming at preventing or curtailing virus replication in macrophages and T cells, particularly in the context of designing strategies to tackle the viral reservoir in infected individuals receiving combination antiretroviral therapy. In this regard, we will here also discuss a model of reversible HIV-1 latency in primary human macrophages and the role of host factors determining the restriction or reactivation of virus replication in these cells.     

Spectral characterization of periglacial surfaces and geomorphological units in the Arctic Lena Delta using field spectrometry and remote sensing

Important environmental parameters in arctic periglacial landscapes (i.e. permafrost temperature, active-layer depth, soil moisture, precipitation, vegetation cover) will very likely change in a warming climate. The thawing of permafrost, especially, might cause massive landscape changes due to thermokarst and an enhanced release of greenhouse gasses from the large amounts of carbon stored in frozen deposits, resulting in positive climate-warming feedback. For the identification, mapping, and quantification of such changes on various scales up to the entire circum-Arctic, remote sensing and spatial data analysis are essential tools. In this study an extensive field-work dataset including spectral surface properties, vegetation, soils, and geomorphology was acquired in the largest Arctic delta formed by a single river, the Siberian Lena River Delta. A portable field spectrometer (ASD FieldSpec Pro FR®) was used for spectral surveys of terrain surfaces, and optical satellite data (Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+), CHRIS-Proba) were used for the characterization, manual mapping, and automatic classification of typical periglacial land-cover units in the Lena Delta. Qualitative data from soils, vegetation, soil moisture, and relief units were correlated with the field-spectral data and catalogued for a wide variety of surface types. The wide range of micro- and meso-scale variations of periglacial surface features in the delta results in distinctive spectral characteristics for different land-cover units. The three main delta terraces could also be spectrally separated and characterized. The present dataset provides a basis for further spectral data acquisitions in the Lena Delta and for comparisons with periglacial surfaces from other regions.     

Are moods motivational states? A study on effort-related cardiovascular response.

Based on the mood-behavior-model (Gendolla, 2000), this study tested the idea that moods only have effects on effort mobilization in settings that directly call for this and in which people can thus use their moods as task-relevant information. Fifty university students were randomly assigned to a 2 (Mood: negative vs. positive) × 2 (Memorizing: intentional vs. incidental) × 2 (Time: mood induction vs. task performance) mixed model design. Effort mobilization was operationalized as systolic blood pressure (SBP) reactivity. As expected, in the intentional-memorizing condition, SBP reactivity was stronger in a negative mood than in a positive mood. Mood had no impact in the incidental-memorizing condition, which did not call for effort mobilization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An FT-IR study of the adsorption of aromatic hydrocarbons and of 2,6-lutidine on H-FER and H-ZSM-5 zeolites

The interaction of aromatic hydrocarbons benzene, toluene, o-, m- and p-xylene and of methyl pyridines (in particular 2,6-lutidine) with H-ZSM-5 and H-FER zeolites has been studied. Two different H-ZSM-5 samples with strongly different intensity ratios between the two main OH stretching bands have been used. Benzene, toluene and p-xylene enter easily the cavities and give rise to three different H-bonded complexes. Two of them are strongly bonded while the third is likely a very hindered and distorted one. o-Xylene enters slowly the cavities and m-xylene even more slowly. Faster diffusion occurs at higher temperatures. On the contrary, xylenes do not enter the FER cavities. In spite of its steric hindrance, supposed to be the same of m-xylene, 2,6-lutidine enters fast the ZSM channels and is protonated by the internal sites. On the contrary, it does not enter the FER cavities, but it is protonated too on the external silanols sites. Evidence is provided for some kind of heterogeneity of the internal sites of ZSM-5 zeolite. Additionally, it is concluded that other effects besides the molecular sieving effect may play a role in the access and diffusion of molecules into the zeolite channels.     

Important Parameters for the Manufacture of Slow-Release Matrix Pellets With an Aqueous Dispersion of Quaternary Poly(meth)acrylates in the Rotary Fluidized Bed

ABSTRACT

The manufacture of slow-release matrix pellets with an aqueous dispersion of quaternary poly(meth)acrylates was investigated in the rotary fluidized bed. By considering the moisture content of the fluidized bed to be the key process parameter, it was measured on-line throughout the whole manufacturing process. A specially designed sampling device opened new ways to apply NIR spectrometry in laboratory scale processes. It was shown that reproducibly improved pellet properties can be achieved by reproducing the moisture content of the (rotary) fluidized bed. Moisture plateaus proved to be a suitable way to optimize the sphericity of the pellets. Premoisturizing was found to be a very effective tool to achieve slow-release dissolution of the model drug theophylline.