Agricultural Genetics and Plant Breeding in Early Twentieth-Century Italy

This thesis is about plant breeding in Early 20th-Century Italy. The stories of the two most prominent Italian plant-breeders of the time, Nazareno Strampelli and Francesco Todaro, are used to explore a fragment of the often-neglected history of Italian agricultural research. While Italy was not at the forefront of agricultural innovation, research programs aimed at varietal innovation did emerge in the country, along with an early diffusion of Mendelism. Using philosophical as well as historical analysis, plant breeding is analysed throughout this thesis as a process: a sequence of steps that lays on practical skills and theoretical assumptions, acting on various elements of production. Systematic plant-breeding programs in Italy started from small individual efforts, attracting more and more resources until they became a crucial part of the fascist regime's infamous agricultural policy. Hybrid varieties developed in the early 20th century survived World War II and are now ancestors of the varieties that are still cultivated today. Despite this relevance, the history of Italian wheat hybrids is today largely forgotten: this thesis is an effort to re-evaluate a part of it. The research did allow previously unknown or neglected facts to emerge, giving a new perspective on the infamous alliance between plant-breeding programs and the fascist regime. This thesis undertakes an analysis of Italian plant-breeding programs as processes. Those processes had a practical as well as a theoretical side, and involved various elements of production. Although a complete history of Italian plant breeding still remains to be written, the Italian case can now be considered along with the other case-studies that other scholars have developed in the history of plant breeding. The hope is that this historical and philosophical analysis will contribute to the on-going effort to understand the history of plants.

Legal presumptions in national tax systems (Italy and Belgium) and in EU law

The thesis deals with the concept of presumptions, and in particular of legal presumptions, in the context of national tax systems (Italy and Belgium) and EU law. The purpose was to investigate the concept of legal presumption under a twofold comparative perspective. After having provided a general overview of the common core concept of presumption in the European context, an insight in the national approach to legal presumptions was given by examining two different national experiences, namely the Italian and Belgian tax systems. At this stage, the Constitutional framework and some of the most interesting and relevant at EU level presumptive measures were explored, with a view to underlining possible divergences and common grounds. The concept of (national) legal presumption was then investigated in the context of EU law, with the attempt to systematize under a uniform perspective a matter which has been traditionally dealt with either from the merely national point of view or, at EU level, through a fragmented form. In this instance, the EU law relevant framework and the most significant EUCJ case-law, in particular in the field of customs duties, VAT, on the issue of the repayment of taxes levied in breach of EU law and in the area of direct taxation, were examined so as to construe the overall EU approach to national legal presumptions. This was done with the finality of determining if and to what extent a common analytical framework may be identified, from which were extracted certain criteria governing the compatibility of national legal presumptions with EU law.

Dalla Francia all'Italia: impegno politico, inchiesta e transfers culturali alle origini della sociologia del lavoro in Italia

Sociology of work in Italy revived at the end of WWII, after thirty years of forced oblivion. This thesis examines the history of discipline by considering three paths that it followed from its revival up to its institutionalization: the influence of the productivity drive, the role of trade unions and the activity of early young researchers. European Productivity Agency's Italian office Comitato Nazionale per la Produttività propagandised studies on management and on the effects of the industrialization on work and society. Academicians, technicians, psychologists who worked for CNP started rethinking sociology of work, but the managerial use of sociology was unacceptable for both trade unions and young researchers. So “free union” CISL created a School in Florence with an eager attention to social sciences as a medium to become a new model union, while Marxist CGIL, despite its ideological aversion to sociology, finally accepted the social sciences lexicon in order to explain the work changes and to resist against the employers' association offensive. On the other hand, political and social engagement led a first generation of sociologists to study social phenomenon in the recently industrialized Italy by using the sociological analysis. Finally, the thesis investigate the cultural transfers from France, whose industrial sociology (sociologie du travail) was considered as a reference in continental Europe. Nearby the wide importance of French sociologie, financially aided by planning institutions in order to employ it in the industrial reconstruction, other minor experiences such as the social surveys accomplished by worker-priests in the suburbs of industrial cities and the heterodox Marxism of the review “Socialisme ou Barbarie” influenced Italian sociology of work.

Indoor and Outdoor Natural Radioactivity in the Vulsini Volcanic District (Central Italy): Estimation of Doses and Radiological Risks

Terrestrial radioactivity for most individual is the major contributor to the total dose and is mostly provided by 238U, 232Th and 40K radionuclides. In particular indoor radioactivity is principally due to 222Rn, a radioactive noble gas descendent of 238U, second cause of lung cancer after cigarettes smoking. Vulsini Volcanic District is a well known quaternary volcanic area located between the northern Latium and southern Tuscany (Central Italy). It is characterized by an high natural radiation background resulting from the high concentrations of 238U, 232Th and 40K in the volcanic products. In this context, subduction-related metasomatic enrichment of incompatible elements in the mantle source coupled with magma differentiation within the upper crust has given rise to U, Th and K enriched melts. Almost every ancient village and town located in this part of Italy has been built with volcanic rocks pertaining to the Vulsini Volcanic District. The radiological risk of living in this area has been estimated considering separately: a. the risk associated with buildings made of volcanic products and built on volcanic rock substrates b. the risk associated to soil characteristics. The former has been evaluated both using direct 222Rn indoor measurements and simulations of “standard rooms��� built with the tuffs and lavas from the Vulsini Volcanic District investigated in this work. The latter has been carried out by using in situ measurements of 222Rn activity in the soil gases. A radon risk map for the Bolsena village has been developed using soil radon measurements integrating geological information. Data of airborne radioactivity in ambient aerosol at two elevated stations in Emilia Romagna (North Italy) under the influence of Fukushima plume have been collected, effective doses have been calculated and an extensive comparison between doses associated with artificial and natural sources in different area have been described and discussed.

Matters of taste: the neoclassical furniture in the Italian portraits from the late eighteenth century to the Restoration

Analysis and description of the furniture shown on Italian portraits from the late eighteenth century to the period of the Restoration. We have studied real examples of environments still exist with their furniture, chairs, mirrors, lamps, etc. in different areas of Italy. All this to explain the refined taste and cosmopolitan of the characters painted in the portraits, that for this reason they were considered fashionable

The Integrated European Project "GEHA - GEnetics of Healthy Aging": recruitment, health status assessment and survival of the Italian 90+ sibpairs

The present study is part of the EU Integrated Project “GEHA – Genetics of Healthy Aging” (Franceschi C et al., Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1100: 21-45, 2007), whose aim is to identify genes involved in healthy aging and longevity, which allow individuals to survive to advanced age in good cognitive and physical function and in the absence of major age-related diseases. Aims The major aims of this thesis were the following: 1. to outline the recruitment procedure of 90+ Italian siblings performed by the recruiting units of the University of Bologna (UNIBO) and Rome (ISS). The procedures related to the following items necessary to perform the study were described and commented: identification of the eligible area for recruitment, demographic aspects related to the need of getting census lists of 90+siblings, mail and phone contact with 90+ subjects and their families, bioethics aspects of the whole procedure, standardization of the recruitment methodology and set-up of a detailed flow chart to be followed by the European recruitment centres (obtainment of the informed consent form, anonimization of data by using a special code, how to perform the interview, how to collect the blood, how to enter data in the GEHA Phenotypic Data Base hosted at Odense). 2. to provide an overview of the phenotypic characteristics of 90+ Italian siblings recruited by the recruiting units of the University of Bologna (UNIBO) and Rome (ISS). The following items were addressed: socio-demographic characteristics, health status, cognitive assessment, physical conditions (handgrip strength test, chair-stand test, physical ability including ADL, vision and hearing ability, movement ability and doing light housework), life-style information (smoking and drinking habits) and subjective well-being (attitude towards life). Moreover, haematological parameters collected in the 90+ sibpairs as optional parameters by the Bologna and Rome recruiting units were used for a more comprehensive evaluation of the results obtained using the above mentioned phenotypic characteristics reported in the GEHA questionnaire. 3. to assess 90+ Italian siblings as far as their health/functional status is concerned on the basis of three classification methods proposed in previous studies on centenarians, which are based on: • actual functional capabilities (ADL, SMMSE, visual and hearing abilities) (Gondo et al., J Gerontol. 61A (3): 305-310, 2006); • actual functional capabilities and morbidity (ADL, ability to walk, SMMSE, presence of cancer, ictus, renal failure, anaemia, and liver diseases) (Franceschi et al., Aging Clin Exp Res, 12:77-84, 2000); • retrospectively collected data about past history of morbidity and age of disease onset (hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, osteopororis, neurological diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and ocular diseases) (Evert et al., J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 58A (3): 232-237, 2003). Firstly these available models to define the health status of long-living subjects were applied to the sample and, since the classifications by Gondo and Franceschi are both based on the present functional status, they were compared in order to better recognize the healthy aging phenotype and to identify the best group of 90+ subjects out of the entire studied population. 4. to investigate the concordance of health and functional status among 90+ siblings in order to divide sibpairs in three categories: the best (both sibs are in good shape), the worst (both sibs are in bad shape) and an intermediate group (one sib is in good shape and the other is in bad shape). Moreover, the evaluation wanted to discover which variables are concordant among siblings; thus, concordant variables could be considered as familiar variables (determined by the environment or by genetics). 5. to perform a survival analysis by using mortality data at 1st January 2009 from the follow-up as the main outcome and selected functional and clinical parameters as explanatory variables. Methods A total of 765 90+ Italian subjects recruited by UNIBO (549 90+ siblings, belonging to 258 families) and ISS (216 90+ siblings, belonging to 106 families) recruiting units are included in the analysis. Each subject was interviewed according to a standardized questionnaire, comprising extensively utilized questions that have been validated in previous European studies on elderly subjects and covering demographic information, life style, living conditions, cognitive status (SMMSE), mood, health status and anthropometric measurements. Moreover, subjects were asked to perform some physical tests (Hand Grip Strength test and Chair Standing test) and a sample of about 24 mL of blood was collected and then processed according to a common protocol for the preparation and storage of DNA aliquots. Results From the analysis the main findings are the following: - a standardized protocol to assess cognitive status, physical performances and health status of European nonagenarian subjects was set up, in respect to ethical requirements, and it is available as a reference for other studies in this field; - GEHA families are enriched in long-living members and extreme survival, and represent an appropriate model for the identification of genes involved in healthy aging and longevity; - two simplified sets of criteria to classify 90+ sibling according to their health status were proposed, as operational tools for distinguishing healthy from non healthy subjects; - cognitive and functional parameters have a major role in categorizing 90+ siblings for the health status; - parameters such as education and good physical abilities (500 metres walking ability, going up and down the stairs ability, high scores at hand grip and chair stand tests) are associated with a good health status (defined as “cognitive unimpairment and absence of disability”); - male nonagenarians show a more homogeneous phenotype than females, and, though far fewer in number, tend to be healthier than females; - in males the good health status is not protective for survival, confirming the male-female health survival paradox; - survival after age 90 was dependent mainly on intact cognitive status and absence of functional disabilities; - haemoglobin and creatinine levels are both associated with longevity; - the most concordant items among 90+ siblings are related to the functional status, indicating that they contain a familiar component. It is still to be investigated at what level this familiar component is determined by genetics or by environment or by the interaction between genetics, environment and chance (and at what level). Conclusions In conclusion, we could state that this study, in accordance with the main objectives of the whole GEHA project, represents one of the first attempt to identify the biological and non biological determinants of successful/unsuccessful aging and longevity. Here, the analysis was performed on 90+ siblings recruited in Northern and Central Italy and it could be used as a reference for others studies in this field on Italian population. Moreover, it contributed to the definition of “successful” and “unsuccessful” aging and categorising a very large cohort of our most elderly subjects into “successful” and “unsuccessful” groups provided an unrivalled opportunity to detect some of the basic genetic/molecular mechanisms which underpin good health as opposed to chronic disability. Discoveries in the topic of the biological determinants of healthy aging represent a real possibility to identify new markers to be utilized for the identification of subgroups of old European citizens having a higher risk to develop age-related diseases and disabilities and to direct major preventive medicine strategies for the new epidemic of chronic disease in the 21st century.

Phylogeny and population dynamics in European Reticulitermes and Kalotermes genera (Insecta, Isoptera)

The aim of this thesis is to detect the phylogeny and the population dynamics of the European termites of the genera Reticulitermes and Kalotermes, by the use of different mitochondrial (16S, COI/tRNA/COII, CR) and nuclear (microsatellites and Inter-SINE) molecular markers. In the phylogenetic analyses, the obtained results have well defined the cladogenetic events that generated the nowadays species biodiversity of the genus Reticulitermes, while the analysis of the Kalotermes flavicollis taxon showed the presence of at least four genetic clades, defined on the basis of the geographical distance. The second part of the thesis is centred on the population dynamics of two species: Reticulitermes urbis and Kalotermes flavicollis. The first species, native of the Balkans, is known to be present in some cities of Italy and France. I’ve analyzed the colony genetic structure of the introduced population of Bagnacavallo (RA, Italy), using nine microsatellite loci. The obtained results are in accordance with those obtained from another population in France: this species in fact confirms its invasive and infestation capacities. The analysis of the natural population of K. flavicollis, performed with a combination of mitochondrial (control region) and nuclear (microsatellites and I-SINE) markers, clearly evidenced the presence of two genetic lineages that coexist in the same area. Moreover, results clearly indicate that the cross-breeding is allowed. Finally, the whole results are discussed in a comparative view to better understand the differences in ecology, evolutionary dynamics and colony social structure between these two genera.

La cultura architettonica del periodo normanno e l'influenza bizantina in Sicilia

The arguments of the thesis is the relationship between the Norman domination and the Greek-speaking people living in Sicily and Southern Italy. Particularly the ascendancy of the greek culture on the norman architecture and his role in the construction of the Norman Kingdom.

Chemical, biochemical and microbiological indicators to assess soil quality in temperate agro-ecosystems

Soil is a critically important component of the earth’s biosphere. Developing agricultural production systems able to conserve soil quality is essential to guarantee the current and future capacity of soil to provide goods and services. This study investigates the potential of microbial and biochemical parameters to be used as early and sensitive soil quality indicators. Their ability to differentiate plots under contrasting fertilization regimes is evaluated based also on their sensitivity to seasonal fluctuations of environmental conditions and on their relationship with soil chemical parameters. Further, the study addresses some of the critical methodological aspects of microplate-based fluorimetric enzyme assays, in order to optimize assay conditions and evaluate their suitability to be used as a toll to asses soil quality. The study was based on a long-term field experiment established in 1966 in the Po valley (Italy). The soil was cropped with maize (Z. mays L.) and winter wheat (T. aestivum L.) and received no organic fertilization, crop residue or manure, in combination with increasing levels of mineral N fertilizer. The soil microbiota responded to manure amendment increasing it biomass and activity and changing its community composition. Crop residue effect was much more limited. Mineral N fertilization stimulated crop residue mineralization, shifted microbial community composition and influenced N and P cycling enzyme activities. Seasonal fluctuations of environmental factors affected the soil microbiota. However microbial and biochemical parameters seasonality did not hamper the identification of fertilization-induced effects. Soil microbial community abundance, function and composition appeared to be strongly related to soil organic matter content and composition, confirming the close link existing between these soil quality indicators. Microplate-based fluorimetric enzyme assays showed potential to be used as fast and throughput toll to asses soil quality, but required proper optimization of the assay conditions for a precise estimation of enzymes maximum potential activity.

Las variaciones de la “serliana”: aspectos y motivos de la arquitectura del poder desde la Antigüedad al Renacimiento italiano y español

Principales aportaciones: Elenco actualizado y más completo de “serlianas��� hasta el momento, incluyendo el más amplio repertorio numismático e iconográfico sobre el tema. Visión de conjunto crítica de la “serliana” y motivos afines en la Antigüedad, la Edad Media y el Renacimiento, atendiendo a una selección de ejemplos en todos los formatos posibles (arquitectura e iconografía). Inclusión y explicación de la “serliana” dentro de los avances de la arquitectura romana, con atención a las fuentes escritas. Identificación de las principales áreas de origen y desarrollo de la “serliana”. Explicación de las causas y resultados de los procesos de innovación arquitectónica. Demostración de la llegada de la “serliana” a Hispania mucho antes que el disco de Teodosio. Indagación en las funciones y posibles implicaciones simbólicas de ejemplos de “serliana”. Hipótesis sobre el papel desempeñado por las arquitecturas efímeras. Hipótesis sobre el papel de la arquitectura militar en época romana para la difusión de la “serliana”. Comentario crítico de la situación de la “serliana” en la Antigüedad Tardía y visión general de sus procesos de transferencia y metamorfosis. Demostración de la pervivencia de la “serliana” en la Edad Media. Análisis de la arcada triple como posible sustituto de la “serliana”. Comentario crítico de los dibujos tardomedievales y renacentistas sobre la “serliana” y su relación con el estudio contemporáneo de los monumentos antiguos. Identificación de ejemplos y comentario crítico de la situación de la “serliana” en la Italia del Quattrocento y del Cinquecento. Análisis de las confluencias de la “serliana” Italia-España y evolución del motivo en este último ámbito. Demostración de las novedades propias del ámbito hispano.

Essays on the political economy of European integration

Recently, a rising interest in political and economic integration/disintegration issues has been developed in the political economy field. This growing strand of literature partly draws on traditional issues of fiscal federalism and optimum public good provision and focuses on a trade-off between the benefits of centralization, arising from economies of scale or externalities, and the costs of harmonizing policies as a consequence of the increased heterogeneity of individual preferences in an international union or in a country composed of at least two regions. This thesis stems from this strand of literature and aims to shed some light on two highly relevant aspects of the political economy of European integration. The first concerns the role of public opinion in the integration process; more precisely, how economic benefits and costs of integration shape citizens' support for European Union (EU) membership. The second is the allocation of policy competences among different levels of government: European, national and regional. Chapter 1 introduces the topics developed in this thesis by reviewing the main recent theoretical developments in the political economy analysis of integration processes. It is structured as follows. First, it briefly surveys a few relevant articles on economic theories of integration and disintegration processes (Alesina and Spolaore 1997, Bolton and Roland 1997, Alesina et al. 2000, Casella and Feinstein 2002) and discusses their relevance for the study of the impact of economic benefits and costs on public opinion attitude towards the EU. Subsequently, it explores the links existing between such political economy literature and theories of fiscal federalism, especially with regard to normative considerations concerning the optimal allocation of competences in a union. Chapter 2 firstly proposes a model of citizens��� support for membership of international unions, with explicit reference to the EU; subsequently it tests the model on a panel of EU countries. What are the factors that influence public opinion support for the European Union (EU)? In international relations theory, the idea that citizens' support for the EU depends on material benefits deriving from integration, i.e. whether European integration makes individuals economically better off (utilitarian support), has been common since the 1970s, but has never been the subject of a formal treatment (Hix 2005). A small number of studies in the 1990s have investigated econometrically the link between national economic performance and mass support for European integration (Eichenberg and Dalton 1993; Anderson and Kalthenthaler 1996), but only making informal assumptions. The main aim of Chapter 2 is thus to propose and test our model with a view to providing a more complete and theoretically grounded picture of public support for the EU. Following theories of utilitarian support, we assume that citizens are in favour of membership if they receive economic benefits from it. To develop this idea, we propose a simple political economic model drawing on the recent economic literature on integration and disintegration processes. The basic element is the existence of a trade-off between the benefits of centralisation and the costs of harmonising policies in presence of heterogeneous preferences among countries. The approach we follow is that of the recent literature on the political economy of international unions and the unification or break-up of nations (Bolton and Roland 1997, Alesina and Wacziarg 1999, Alesina et al. 2001, 2005a, to mention only the relevant). The general perspective is that unification provides returns to scale in the provision of public goods, but reduces each member state’s ability to determine its most favoured bundle of public goods. In the simple model presented in Chapter 2, support for membership of the union is increasing in the union’s average income and in the loss of efficiency stemming from being outside the union, and decreasing in a country’s average income, while increasing heterogeneity of preferences among countries points to a reduced scope of the union. Afterwards we empirically test the model with data on the EU; more precisely, we perform an econometric analysis employing a panel of member countries over time. The second part of Chapter 2 thus tries to answer the following question: does public opinion support for the EU really depend on economic factors? The findings are broadly consistent with our theoretical expectations: the conditions of the national economy, differences in income among member states and heterogeneity of preferences shape citizens��� attitude towards their country’s membership of the EU. Consequently, this analysis offers some interesting policy implications for the present debate about ratification of the European Constitution and, more generally, about how the EU could act in order to gain more support from the European public. Citizens in many member states are called to express their opinion in national referenda, which may well end up in rejection of the Constitution, as recently happened in France and the Netherlands, triggering a European-wide political crisis. These events show that nowadays understanding public attitude towards the EU is not only of academic interest, but has a strong relevance for policy-making too. Chapter 3 empirically investigates the link between European integration and regional autonomy in Italy. Over the last few decades, the double tendency towards supranationalism and regional autonomy, which has characterised some European States, has taken a very interesting form in this country, because Italy, besides being one of the founding members of the EU, also implemented a process of decentralisation during the 1970s, further strengthened by a constitutional reform in 2001. Moreover, the issue of the allocation of competences among the EU, the Member States and the regions is now especially topical. The process leading to the drafting of European Constitution (even if then it has not come into force) has attracted much attention from a constitutional political economy perspective both on a normative and positive point of view (Breuss and Eller 2004, Mueller 2005). The Italian parliament has recently passed a new thorough constitutional reform, still to be approved by citizens in a referendum, which includes, among other things, the so called “devolution”, i.e. granting the regions exclusive competence in public health care, education and local police. Following and extending the methodology proposed in a recent influential article by Alesina et al. (2005b), which only concentrated on the EU activity (treaties, legislation, and European Court of Justice’s rulings), we develop a set of quantitative indicators measuring the intensity of the legislative activity of the Italian State, the EU and the Italian regions from 1973 to 2005 in a large number of policy categories. By doing so, we seek to answer the following broad questions. Are European and regional legislations substitutes for state laws? To what extent are the competences attributed by the European treaties or the Italian Constitution actually exerted in the various policy areas? Is their exertion consistent with the normative recommendations from the economic literature about their optimum allocation among different levels of government? The main results show that, first, there seems to be a certain substitutability between EU and national legislations (even if not a very strong one), but not between regional and national ones. Second, the EU concentrates its legislative activity mainly in international trade and agriculture, whilst social policy is where the regions and the State (which is also the main actor in foreign policy) are more active. Third, at least two levels of government (in some cases all of them) are significantly involved in the legislative activity in many sectors, even where the rationale for that is, at best, very questionable, indicating that they actually share a larger number of policy tasks than that suggested by the economic theory. It appears therefore that an excessive number of competences are actually shared among different levels of government. From an economic perspective, it may well be recommended that some competences be shared, but only when the balance between scale or spillover effects and heterogeneity of preferences suggests so. When, on the contrary, too many levels of government are involved in a certain policy area, the distinction between their different responsibilities easily becomes unnecessarily blurred. This may not only leads to a slower and inefficient policy-making process, but also risks to make it too complicate to understand for citizens, who, on the contrary, should be able to know who is really responsible for a certain policy when they vote in national,local or European elections or in referenda on national or European constitutional issues.

Studio genetico ed epidemiologico su Erysiphe necator agente eziologico dell'Oidio della vite

The objective was to analyse population structure and to determine genetic diversity of Erysiphe necator (syn. Uncinula necator) populations obtained from some vineyards located in the South-East Po valley (Italy). Powdery mildew is one of the most important fungal diseases of grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) throughout the world. The causal agent is the haploid, heterothallic ascomycete E. necator. It is an obligate biotrophic fungus and it can be found only on green organs of plants belonging to the family Vitaceae. For this pathogen, two sympatric populations (groups A and B) have been described in Europe and Australia. The two genetic groups differ at multiple genetic loci and previous studies reported a lack of interfertility among isolates of the two groups. There are now several well documented examples of plant pathogen species, such as Leptosphaeria maculans, Gaeumannomyces graminis var. tritici, Botrytis cinerea and Erysiphe syringae, which are indeed composed of genetically differentiated clades, that have led to the description of new groups or even new species. Several studies have suggested that genetic E. necator group A and B correlated with ecological features of the pathogen; some researchers proposed that group A isolates over-winter as resting mycelium within dormant buds, and in spring originate infected shoots, known as Flag shoots, while group B isolates would survive as ascospores in overwintering cleistothecia. However, the association between genetic groups and mode of over-wintering has been challenged by recent studies reporting that flag-shoot may be originated indifferently by group A or group B isolate. Previous studies observed a strong association between the levels of disease severity at the end of the growing season and the initial compositions of E. necator populations in commercial vineyards. The frequencies of E. necator genetic groups vary considerably among vineyards, and the two groups may coexist in the same vineyard. This finding suggests that we need more information on the genetics and epidemiology of E. necator for optimize the crop management In this study we monitored E. necator populations in different vineyards in Emilia – Romagna region (Italy), where the pathogen overwinters both as flagshoots and as cleistothecia. During the grape growing season, symptomatic leaves were sampled early in the growing season and both leaves and berries later during the epidemic growth of the disease. From each sample, single-conidial isolate was obtained. Each isolates was grown on V. vinifera leaf cv. Primitivo and after harvesting the mycelium, the DNA was purified and used as template for PCR amplification with SCAR primers (Sequences Characterised Amplified Region ), -tubulin, IGS sequences and Microsatellite markers (SSR). Amplified DNA from b-tubulin and IGS loci was digested with AciI and XhoI restriction enzymes, respectively, to show single-nucleotide polymorphisms specific for the two genetic groups. The results obtained indicated that SCAR primers are not useful to study the epidemiology. of E. necator conversely the b-tubulin IGS sequences and SSR. Summarize the results obtained with b-tubulin, IGS sequences, in treated vineyards we have found individuals of group B along all grape growing season, whereas in the untreated vineyard individuals of the two genetic groups A and B coexisted throughout the season, with no significant change of their frequency. DNA amplified from ascospores of single cleistothecia showed the presence of markers diagnostic for either groups A and B and were seldom observed also the coexistence of both groups within a claistothecium. These results indicate that individuals of the two groups mated in nature and were able to produced ascospores. With SSR we showed the possibility of recombination between A and B groups in field isolates. During winter, cleistothecia were collected repeatedly in the same vineyards sampling leaves fallen on ground, exfoliating bark from trunks, and from soil. From each substrate, was assess the percentage of cleistothecia containing viable ascospores. Our results confirmed that cleisthotecia contained viable ascospores, therefore they have the potential to be an additional and important source of primary inoculum in Emilia-Romagna vineyards.

La inclusión de declaraciones de derechos y principios en los Estatutos de Italia y España

La ricerca riguarda l’inclusione di dichiarazioni di diritti e principi introdotte negli Statuti di autonomia delle Regioni italiane e delle Comunità Autonome spagnole riformati negli ultimi anni. La tesi consta, oltre che nell’introduzione dei concetti preliminari, di due parti per ognuno dei Paesi nelle quali si esaminano i sistemi regionali e concretamente queste carte di diritti e principi. La terza parte raccoglie un’analisi comparativa di ambedue gli Stati. Il problema dell’efficacia di questi diritti e principi rappresenta la chiave fondamentale. In questo senso, la Giurisprudenza costituzionale risulta essere basilare per lo studio delle differenti risposte alle novità dei diversi elenchi di diritti e principi a livello regionale. Mentre la Corte Costituzionale italiana ha negato la loro efficacia giuridica, anche come norme programmatiche assimilabili a quelle costituzionali, il Tribunale Costituzionale spagnolo ha qualificato un nuovo tipo di diritto, i c. d. diritti statutari, che non sono diritti pubblici soggettivi ma mandati ai poteri pubblici autonomici, specialmente al legislatore autonomico. Lo studio si completa con la problematica dell’uguaglianza e la garanzia dei diritti e i principi in questi Stati composti.

Algal wastewater treatment and biomass producing potential: nutrient removal efficiency and cell physiological responses

Microalgae are sun - light cell factories that convert carbon dioxide to biofuels, foods, feeds, and other bioproducts. The concept of microalgae cultivation as an integrated system in wastewater treatment has optimized the potential of the microalgae - based biofuel production. These microorganisms contains lipids, polysaccharides, proteins, pigments and other cell compounds, and their biomass can provide different kinds of biofuels such as biodiesel, biomethane and ethanol. The algal biomass application strongly depends on the cell composition and the production of biofuels appears to be economically convenient only in conjunction with wastewater treatment. The aim of this research thesis was to investigate a biological wastewater system on a laboratory scale growing a newly isolated freshwater microalgae, Desmodesmus communis, in effluents generated by a local wastewater reclamation facility in Cesena (Emilia Romagna, Italy) in batch and semi - continuous cultures. This work showed the potential utilization of this microorganism in an algae - based wastewater treatment; Desmodesmus communis had a great capacity to grow in the wastewater, competing with other microorganisms naturally present and adapting to various environmental conditions such as different irradiance levels and nutrient concentrations. The nutrient removal efficiency was characterized at different hydraulic retention times as well as the algal growth rate and biomass composition in terms of proteins, polysaccharides, total lipids and total fatty acids (TFAs) which are considered the substrate for biodiesel production. The biochemical analyses were coupled with the biomass elemental analysis which specified the amount of carbon and nitrogen in the algal biomass. Furthermore photosynthetic investigations were carried out to better correlate the environmental conditions with the physiology responses of the cells and consequently get more information to optimize the growth rate and the increase of TFAs and C/N ratio, cellular compounds and biomass parameter which are fundamental in the biomass energy recovery.