The inspection of the quality of the indoor air in which a work of art or a historical artefact is kept becomes essential for its conservation. The determination of organic pollutants represents an important tool in pre-emptive conservation. The study investigated the quality of the air in the crypt of the Basilica of St. Peter in Perugia (Italy) through different methodologies. The objectives included the analysis of the levels of biological particulates of fungal origin, and the determination of the degree of variability of the airborne spore concentrations, as indicative of the level of contamination of the environment. The quantitative analysis of the airborne fungal component demonstrates that across the whole period considered there were wide variations in the bioaerosols, heterogeneous spore distributions and different peak concentrations in the areas studied. The qualitative analysis of the airborne fungal component allowed the determination of the different fungal genera present, both in the interior of the crypt and in the outside environment. The analysis of the data shows an increasing trend over the period considered, with the highest values during the months of June and July.

The fruits of Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill., the most worldwide cultivated species of Cactaceae family, contain viable seeds (100-250) of large size. This characteristic influences the commercial quality of the fruit. The study of floral biology in Opuntia allows to understand the behaviour of the plant during reproductive phase and perhaps to distinguish clones with different fruits behaviour (with seed and seedless). The study resulted in a palynological characterization by optical and scanning microscopy (SEM), followed by a qualitative analysis on the male line with pollen viability and in vitro germination tests, in addition to a pollen-pistil interaction survey. The plant material collected, during June-July 2010, consisted of clonal samples of the same genetic origin collected from populations characterizing the Sicilian cultivation area and distinguished in seedly cultivar 'Gialla' (yellow) and 'Rossa' (red) and seedless cultivar 'Bianca' (white). The palynological characterization revealed that Opuntia pollen has a radio-symmetric shape with a reticulated surface, poly-panto-porate with a perimeter from circular to polygonal. Moreover, the membrane of the pore appears finely granulated. Scanning microscopy reveals that the pollen has an intectated, reticulated and hetero-brochated exine with about 20-24 pores with a thin membrane. The average viability of the pollen was 91.2% (+/- 4.6) in 'Bianca' cultivar, 82.40% (+/- 9.88) for both seedly cultivars. In vitro germination rate was 28.76% (+/- 6.59) in the white cultivar, 27.85% (+/- 5.15) as overall average in 'Gialla' and 'Rossa' cultivar. In vivo germination rate in the seedless cultivar (75.77% +/- 5.32) was higher than what was that recorded in the other two (53.5% +/- 6.5).

The plant adaptation to climate trends appears as a main research field in the recent past. In the Mediterranean environment a 14-year (1997-2010) phenological study was realized inside a phenological garden to investigate the climate/plant relationships. The average phenological data thus obtained provide a mean model of development for the different species in relation to the 14-year period of observation (1997-2010). Meteorological recordings showed June and July as the months with the highest temperature increases during the central period of the study period. The phenological data showed a double-trend behaviour during the historical series considering the first two growth phases (V3, V5) that was not seen for the later phases (V7, V8). Moreover, different leaf presence periods on the tree were calculated for some of the plant species, and commonly the clearest trends were seen for V3 to V7 with a decreasing period length from 1997 to 2002-2003 and a successive quite constant behaviour. The lowest correlations between annual vegetative phases and temperature variations were manifested above all by two species (Sambucus nigra L. and Robinia pseudoacacia L.) for which the first leaf development phases appeared probably influenced by photoperiod.

The main characteristics of the heat accumulation period and the possible existence of different types of biological response to the environment in different populations of olive through the Mediterranean region have been evaluated. Chilling curves to determine the start date of the heat accumulation period were constructed and evaluated. The results allow us to conclude that the northern olive populations have the greatest heat requirements for the development of their floral buds, and they need a period of time longer than olives in others areas to completely satisfy their biothermic requirements. The olive trees located in the warmest winter areas have a faster transition from endogenous to exogenous inhibition once the peak of chilling is met, and they show more rapid floral development. The lower heat requirements are due to better adaptation to warmer regions. Both the threshold temperature and the peak of flowering date are closely related to latitude. Different types of biological responses of olives to the environment were found. The adaptive capacity shown by the olive tree should be considered as a useful tool with which to study the effects of global climatic change on agro-ecosystems.

The present study was carried out in a phenological garden in central Italy that contains vegetative clones of shrubs and trees common to several international phenological gardens, such as Cornus sanguinea L.; Corylus avellana L.; Ligustrum vulgare L.; Robinia pseudoacacia L.; Salix acutifolia Willd. and Sambucus nigra L. Vegetative plant growth monitoring was carried out weekly using common international keys: BBCH07, bud break and leaf unfolding; BBCH19, young unfolded leaf; BBCH91, adult leaves; BBCH93, beginning of leaf colouring. The phenological dates thus obtained provide a model of the development for these different species in relation to the 15-year period of observation (1997–2011). From a meteorological point of view, temperature and precipitation trends were studied, with the highest anomalies during the study period recorded during the first 2 months of the year (January, February). There was relative invariance in the manifestation of the open bud phase and the contemporary advance of the young open leaves phase, particularly from 2006. This was accompanied by shortening of the leaf opening period, which appeared due to more rapid spring temperature increases over the last few years. The advance tendency of the BBCH91 phase showed adult leaves from the first summer weeks with fully green foliage monitored for a long time. Generally, the autumn leaf colouring phase tended to remain constant, with the exception of Salix acutifolia and Sambucus nigra, for which, on the other hand, the first leaf development phases appeared to be most likely influenced by the photoperiod.

Recent studies have shown that there are many effects of climate change on aeroallergens, and thus on allergic diseases in humans. In the Mediterranean region, despite the importance of the olive tree for production, there is high allergenicity of olive pollen and related risks to human health. Aerobiological sampling techniques can be used to analyse the pollinosis phenomenon through determination of mean daily pollen concentrations per cubic metre of air. The present study was carried out from 1999 to 2008 in 16 olive-growing areas in Italy, to update the information on the pollinosis characteristics of Olea europaea in the study areas. The analysis of the average flowering season over the study period highlights a temporal scaling of pollen in the atmosphere that depends on the different climatic characteristics. This is mainly dependent on temperature, and in part, determined by latitude. Generally, the levels of O. europaea pollen in the atmosphere are higher from mid-April to the end of June, with the period of greatest risk to human health due to this olive pollen in this area currently limited primarily to the last 10 days of May. However, the pollen season can move, depending on the climate scenario considered, and data here can be used to determine potential time shifts in pollinosis that might cause more precocious asthma and allergy problems. The allergy season for this type of pollen might be significantly precocious in future decades (20-30 days earlier in the year), which will impact on the severity and duration of allergies attributable to olive tree pollen.

ABSTRACTPhenological investigations that adopt aerobiological monitoring methodologies are frequently used for species that rely on the wind for pollen grain dispersion, such as the olive in the Mediterranean basin. The present study of olive flowering dates was carried out in the Calabria region (southern Italy). These were calculated on the basis of a phenological study of pollen levels in the atmosphere in three typical olive‐growing areas over an 11 year study period (1999–2009). This phenological method provides olive flowering maps that are based on temperatures (as the growing degree days: GDDs), which are highly correlated with the release of the pollen grains. According to the model developed, the average GDDs corresponding to the flowering dates were calculated for the baseline period of 1981–2000. Moreover, with the use of meteorological data derived from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios, the future olive flowering dates are estimated for the 20 year period from 2081 to 2100. The close relationships between the spring temperature trends and the reproductive phenological phases in the olive are highly sensitive to climatic change, which has implications in terms of potential latitude and altitude shifts in the olive cultivation areas. In some cultivation areas in southern Italy, the present particular combination of microclimate, soil status and level of erosion is considered as limiting to regular vegetative plant development. However, the use of olive cultivars that are specifically adapted to extremely stressful environments, in terms of high temperatures and water deficit, might represent the main solution for the mitigation of the consequences of climatic change.

This study aimed to show how the importance of edible wild plants regards not only a question of uses linked to folk traditions but also their value in human nutrition. Data on the use of 50 species were collected through informed consent semi-structured interviews with local informants. They were eaten raw in salads (43

The Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI) of inferior limbs is a widespread disease, with an increasing incidence as a consequence of longer life expectance, life-style, obesity, smoking, use of drugs as oestrogens and progestins and working conditions. Medical therapy is still lacking for evidence of efficacy, and compression therapy is useful only in preventing a worsening of this condition. Surgical treatment is the only radical therapy effective for the advanced phases of the disease. In this context spa balneotherapy can be considered as a possible chance to improve some subjective and objective symptoms of CVI of inferior limbs, and to prevent worsening of this condition. The authors performed a review of the relevant scientific literature concerning the treatment of CVI of inferior limbs with mineral water balneotherapy, in order to evaluate its effects on objective and subjective symptoms and its effectiveness to prevent further worsening. We searched the PubMed/Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science databases for articles published between 1990 and 2011 on this topic. To this end, the authors selected few clinical-controlled and case-controlled studies; patients affected from CVI of inferior limbs were treated with balneotherapy at health spas with sulphureous, sulphate, salsojodic or salsobromojodic mineral waters. Baths in mineral waters were often associated with idromassotherapy and vascular pathway. Effects of spa balneotherapy are related to some aspecific properties, like hydrostatic pressure, osmotic pressure and water temperature, partly related with specific chemico-physical properties of the adopted mineral water. The controlled clinical studies on spa therapy showed significant improvement of subjective (such as itch, paresthesias, pain, heaviness) and objective symptoms (namely edema and skin discromias). These studies suggest that spa balneotherapy may give a good chance of secondary prevention and effective therapy of CVI of inferior limbs, but also that it needs of other clinical controlled trials.

This article sets out to analyse how and to what degree land use is linked to the physical characteristics of the territory itself, and the way in which changes in land use are determined by agricultural and socio-demographic dynamics. The study was conducted within the territorial boundaries of five municipalities surrounding Lake Trasimeno and refers to the periods 1977–2000 for land use and 1971–2001 for socio-demography data. The use of environmental, social, economic and agricultural indicators demonstrates how a mix of various indicators are useful for monitoring the changes which took place. It also shows the powerful influence that socio-demographic factors exert upon land use and landscape change.

The present study implemented a regional phenological model that was derived through the growing season index and adapted to a widespread Mediterranean species, the olive (Olea europaea L.). This model considers not only individual phenological events, but also the main vegetative and reproductive phenological phases of the species, in an integrated biological approach. The regional model generally does not need to include specific meteorological variables calculated as weekly or monthly averages which could limit the extrapolation over large areas. The main climatic limitations of the olive cultivation areas in the south Mediterranean at latitudes around 10° (practically speaking, the geographical limits of the olive) are estimated here. This analysis uses information relating to local climatic changes over the last two decades (1990–1999, 2000–2009) to provide interpretations of the temperature, solar radiation rate, and evapotranspiration trends. This has allowed creation of a Mediterranean phenological model adapted to the olive, which presents the contemporary climate requirements during winter and the warm summer season. The climate analysis and comparisons of these two decades has allowed us to reveal a reduction in the index according to the minimum temperature, which has particular consequences in the northern monitoring areas. This phenomenon appears to present new positive scenarios for the future regarding a northward shift of olive cultivation areas, due to the potential enlargement of the growing season in winter. However, negative scenarios can also be foreseen in consideration of the failure to satisfy the minimum chilling requirements in the traditional southern cultivation areas of the olive.

We considered here olive production according to the main relationships between the quantitative (fruit production) and qualitative (oil quality) data and the meteorological parameters through the annual season. We carried out pollen monitoring analyses over a 12-year period, to initially define the main dynamics of pollen release into the atmosphere in a typical olive production area in southern Italy (Fasano, Puglia). Pollen release was generally determined by the meteorological factors in the period before flowering, with effects on both pollen amounts and timing of flowering (early or delayed). The interactions between these pollen and meteorological parameters were investigated using principal component analysis. This revealed clusters of independent variables during the biological cycle of the olive that highlighted the relationships between annual pollen production and future fruit production, with a high degree of interaction between environmental factors and final olive oil quality. This led us to search for statistical relationships between quality parameters of the oil (acidity, oxidative degree, fatty-acid composition) and meteorological parameters (mean monthly temperatures, rainfall, humidity, winds, solar radiation, evapotranspiration during post-flowering/pre-harvest). The water stress, as defined by the potential evapotranspiration, has a large influence on acidity and fatty-acid content of the olive oil produced. These data thus provide further support of the need for quality irrigation in olive production.

A simultaneous indoor and outdoor aerobiological monitoring was conducted to test the efficacy of a special pollen filter in impeding the entrance of aerobiological particles into living spaces and other structures marked by specific health needs. The efficacy levels of these membranes were tested through aerobiological monitoring carried out outdoors and indoors, in a special simulator located in the nearness and realised as a small-scale building model for simulating real indoor environments. The pollen monitoring carried out during approximately four months indicated a reduction in pollen concentration registered inside the special building simulator in comparison with the outdoor concentrations. The pollen reductions were different on the base of the different plant taxa. In particular, the highest percentages of reduction were recorded for the pollen of Poaceae and Cupro/Taxaceae (about 80%), while the lowest were those related to Urticaceae pollen (about 50%). These results can well be justified in consideration of the pollen size even if the artificial membranes were able to partially restrain the entering pollens utilising a special tissue with a uniform and consistent mesh width of about 70 m, which is larger than the largest pollen deposited on the indoor monitoring apparatus.

In phenological studies, the plant developments are analysed considering their relationships with seasonal meteorological conditions; moreover, the influences of geographical features on biological responses have to be also considered. Different studies analysed the influence of latitude on phenological phases to investigate the possible different magnitude of biological response. In our experience, this type of geographic evaluation was conducted considering one of the more important plant species of Mediterranean shrub, the olive ( Olea europaea L.) in fifteen olive monitoring stations, four located in Tunisia and eleven in Italy, from the southern Zarzis area at 33° to the northern Perugia area at 43° of latitude. The olive flowering phenomenon was studied, utilising an aerobiological monitoring method through appropriate pollen traps located inside olive groves from 1999 to 2008. The olive monitored pollen grains were recognised and evaluated to obtain daily pollen concentrations to define the flowering dates in the different study areas. The biometeorological statistical analysis showed the 7°C threshold temperature and the single triangle method for growing degree days (GDD) yearly computing as the better ones in comparison to others. Moreover, the regression analysis between the dates of full flowering and the GDD amounts at the different monitoring latitudes permitted us to evidence the biological response of olive species in geographic regions with different climate patterns. The specific biological response at different latitude was investigated, the slope results, as flowering days per heat amounts, evidenced that olive species behaviours are very constant in consequence to similar meteorological conditions independently to latitude variations. Averagely, the relationships between plant’s phenology, temperature trends and geographical features are very close, even if the yearly mesoscale meteorological variations force to consider, year by year, phenological advances or delays as local events.

In the last few centuries phenological observations were commonly considered as useful and inexpensive 'plant-instruments' which respond to many meteorological and environmental factors. At first, phenological observations were carried out by volunteers interested in nature, while in the last century the first phenological networks were instituted in different countries. The present study was carried out at the Phenological Garden located in central Italy (Perugia, Umbria Region) which contains indicator species, common to all International Phenological Gardens. The aim of this study was to determine and analyse the average trends of vegetative and reproductive development of seven plant species, adapted to the Mediterranean environment, over an eleven-year period (1997-2007). Two periods ("effective leaf assimilation" ELA and "effective flowering period" EFP) were considered to show the meteorological influence on plants development during the same periods. High correlation values were seen between ELA and rain amounts recorded at the 40th week (autumn season) which show that rain events delay the beginning of leaf colouring extending in this manner the ELA period. Though the reproductive phases demonstrated lower variability in comparison to the vegetative ones, a certain lengthening of the effective flowering period was evidenced.

Recent research demonstrated that in olive, hermaphrodite and staminate flowers show a different starch content. The low RuBisCO activity and chlorophyll content suggested the secondary origin of this starch, so differences between these two kinds of flowers could be related to a different sink capability. To highlight the origin of starch and understand how photosynthetic activity and energetic metabolism are involved in flower abortion, the expression of two organelles genes, psbA and F1-ATPase, were characterized by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization. Data obtained showed that psbA and ATPase genes are differentially expressed in Leccino and Dolce Agogia cultivars and in hermaphrodite and staminate flowers. RT-PCR experiments demonstrated that transcript levels of psbA and F1-ATPase genes were higher in Leccino which is richer in hermaphrodite flowers than in Dolce Agogia. The in situ hybridization experiments, moreover, showed that the expression of these genes was modulated during flower development and confirmed the presence of higher transcript levels in hermaphrodite flowers. These results highlighted the role of energetic metabolism in the flower development.

The analysis of the area of the municipality of Tuoro sul Trasimeno in Umbria, Central Italy (the historical site of the Battle of Trasimeno in 217 BC) was carried out to evaluate changes in land use from 1977 to 2000 at the land-plot level using relevant land use maps. An evaluation of the environmental quality of land use in 2000 was also made. The study involved an analysis of the environmental diversity in terms of extent and variety of land use. The Landscape Conservation Index (ILC), and diversity indicators (Shannon-Wiener Index and Eveness Index) were calculated. The study showed how landscape quality gradually declined due to an increase in agricultural areas to the detriment of natural areas. The calculation of environmental indicators, particularly the Eveness Index showed how the difference between real and potential diversity increased, in favour of real diversity. This is a symptom of increased human pressure.