Metropolitan Area Of Rome Research Articles

The Prevalence of Multiple Sclerosis in the Metropolitan Area of Rome: A Capture-Recapture Analysis

Background: Limited data are available on the prevalence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in central Italy. The objective of this study is to estimate MS prevalence in the metropolitan area of Rome. Methods: We used the capture-recapture method to calculate prevalence estimates in the study area. The selected prevalence day was December 31, 2015. A total of 1,007 patients, with a definite diagnosis of MS according to the revised McDonald’s criteria, were considered for crude, age- and sex-specific prevalence estimation. Results: The overall crude prevalence rate was 146.2 cases per 100,000 (95% CI 119.9–172.5). A higher prevalence rate was recorded in females (194.1, 95% CI 149.6–238.6) than in males (93.0, 95% CI 67.2–118.8) with a female to male ratio of 1.8. Age-specific prevalence peaked in the 25–34 , 35–44 and 45–54 years class; moreover, it was found to increase up to the 45–54 years age group in females and the 35–44 years age group in males, decreasing thereafter. Conclusion: The results confirm that the metropolitan area of Rome is a high-risk area for MS.

Natural and anthropogenic cavities and sinkholes in Rome metropolitan area: from geological and speleological research to land management

Since XVIII century, Rome and its metropolitan area represented a natural laboratory for the development of geological studies in urbanized areas. The peculiar geological framework of the Eternal City and of the surrounding municipalities depends on the tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Tyrrhenian margin of Central Apennines, strongly affected by volcanism during Quaternary. Moreover, three millenniums of human activity induced permanent bioturbation of the natural environment in the Roman area, thus creating a unique scenario attracting the interest of naturalists, geologists and archaeologists in the last three centuries. Systematic studies of the town territory and of its underground have been progressively carried out over time, both for technical and scientific purposes, aimed to describe Rome's geological setting and thus to provide a useful tool for sustainable landuse planning and management and for urban development.Starting from early works on karst caves performed by geologists, speleology increasingly developed in Rome, since the institution of the first organized group in 1904. Along this path, an overlapping between geological research and speleological exploration often occurred especially after WW2, being the members of the group mostly recruited among University students. It was the age of geological renaissance in Italy; youth was encouraged to Earth sciences studies because of possible career opportunities in hydrocarbon research field.At the same time local administrations, firstly the Province of Rome, started to consider mapping of underground cavities network essential for land management and planning. In these terms, attention for anthropogenic cavities and for previous archaeological and historical studies on Rome catacombs and underground quarries renewed, being the issue of sudden collapses in urban and suburban areas detected as a serious hazard. For these reasons, local institutions supported and promoted systematic studies on the underground of Rome and of its province.In such a context, Ugo Ventriglia was surely the pioneer of this approach to urban geology in Rome's natural laboratory. On the other hand, Renato Funiciello, working on the same topic with differentmethods, paid as well attention to underground voids in the studies about Rome he coordinated through years. Consequently, Ugo and Renato, in their geological race for the Seven Hills during the last three decades of the XX century, metaphorically crossed each other also in the underground of Rome. The scientific competition led both scientists, following different approaches and independent paths, to improve the geological knowledge of the Eternal City, leaving a precious legacy to present and future generations and guiding subsequent studies. Nowadays land planning and management of Rome metropolitan area lay thus on this solid foundation.

The map of diabetes and its determinants within the metropolitan area of Rome

The map of diabetes and its determinants within the metropolitan area of Rome

Combining the Conservation of Biodiversity with the Provision of Ecosystem Services in Urban Green Infrastructure Planning: Critical Features Arising from a Case Study in the Metropolitan Area of Rome

A large number of green infrastructure (GI) projects have recently been proposed, planned and implemented in European cities following the adoption of the GI strategy by the EU Commission in 2013. Although this policy tool is closely related to biodiversity conservation targets, some doubts have arisen as regards the ability of current urban GI to provide beneficial effects not only for human societies but also for the ecological systems that host them. The aim of this work is to review the features that should be considered critical when searching for solutions that simultaneously support biodiversity and guarantee the provision of ecosystem services (ES) in urban areas. Starting from a case study in the metropolitan area of Rome, we highlight the role of urban trees and forests as proxies for overall biodiversity and as main ecosystem service providers. We look beyond the individual functional features of plant species and vegetation communities to promote the biogeographic representativity, ecological coherence and landscape connectivity of new or restored GI elements.

Influence of transport from urban sources and domestic biomass combustion on the air quality of a mountain area.

The environmental influence of biomass burning for civil uses was investigated through the determination of several air toxicants in the town of Leonessa and its surroundings, in the mountain region of central Italy. Attention was focussed on PM10, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and regulated gaseous pollutants (nitrogen dioxide, ozone and benzene). Two in-field campaigns were carried out during the summer 2012 and the winter 2013. Contemporarily, air quality was monitored in Rome and other localities of Lazio region. In the summer, all pollutants, with the exception of ozone, were more abundant in Rome. On the other hand, in the winter, PAH concentration was higher in Leonessa (15.8 vs. 7.0ng/m3), while PM10 was less concentrated (22 vs. 34μg/m3). Due to lack of other important sources and to limited impact of vehicle traffic, biomass burning was identified as the major PAH source in Leonessa during the winter. This hypothesis was confirmed by PAH molecular signature of PM10 (i.e. concentration diagnostic ratios and 206 ion mass trace in the chromatograms). A similar phenomenon (i.e. airborne particulate levels similar to those of the capital city but higher PAH loads) was observed in other locations of the province, suggesting that uncontrolled biomass burning contributed to pollution across the Rome metropolitan area.

Atmospheric aerosols in Rome, Italy: sources, dynamics and spatial variations during two seasons

Abstract. Investigations on atmospheric aerosols and their sources were carried out in October/November 2013 and May/June 2014 consecutively in a suburban area of Rome (Tor Vergata) and in central Rome (near St Peter's Basilica). During both years a Saharan dust advection event temporarily increased PM10 concentrations at ground level by about 12–17 µg m−3. Generally, in October/November the ambient aerosol was more strongly influenced by primary emissions, whereas higher relative contributions of secondary particles (sulfate, aged organic aerosol) were found in May/June. Absolute concentrations of anthropogenic emission tracers (e.g. NOx, CO2, particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, traffic-related organic aerosol) were generally higher at the urban location. Positive matrix factorization was applied to the PM1 organic aerosol (OA) fraction of aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) data to identify different sources of primary OA (POA): traffic, cooking, biomass burning and (local) cigarette smoking. While biomass burning OA was only found at the suburban site, where it accounted for the major fraction of POA (18–24 % of total OA), traffic and cooking were more dominant sources at the urban site. A particle type associated with cigarette smoke emissions, which is associated with a potential characteristic marker peak (m∕z 84, C5H10N+, a nicotine fragment) in the mass spectrum, was only found in central Rome, where it was emitted in close vicinity to the measurement location. Regarding secondary OA, in October/November, only a very aged, regionally advected oxygenated OA was found, which contributed 42–53 % to the total OA. In May/June total oxygenated OA accounted for 56–76 % of the OA. Here a fraction (18–26 % of total OA) of a fresher, less oxygenated OA of more local origin was also observed. New particle formation events were identified from measured particle number concentrations and size distributions in May/June 2014 at both sites. While they were observed every day at the urban location, at the suburban location they were only found under favourable meteorological conditions, but were independent of advection of the Rome emission plume. Particles from sources in the metropolitan area of Rome and particles advected from outside Rome contributed 42–70 and 30–58 % to the total measured PM1, respectively. Apart from the general aerosol characteristics, in this study the properties (e.g. emission strength) and dynamics (e.g. temporal behaviour) of each identified aerosol type is investigated in detail to provide a better understanding of the observed seasonal and spatial differences.

A digital flora of Rome

A complete guide to the rich flora of the metropolitan area of Rome (more than 1600 infrageneric taxa) was made available both as an online multi-entry query interface and as a stand-alone dichotomous key for mobile devices. From the general key, it will be possible to derive many smaller (and hence easier) guides to different parks and gardens of Rome, while teachers have been provided with additional software which permits them to create their own keys for any subset of species.

Comparative analysis of implicit models for real‐time short‐term traffic predictions

Predicting future traffic conditions in real-time is a crucial issue for applications of intelligent transportation systems devoted to traffic management and traveller information. The increasing number of connected vehicles equipped with locating technologies provides a ubiquitous updated source of information on the whole network. This offers great opportunities for developing data-driven models that extrapolate short-term future trend directly from data without modelling traffic phenomenon explicitly. Among several different approaches to implicit modelling, machine-learning models based on a network structure are expected to be more suitable to catch traffic phenomenon because of their capability to account for spatial correlations existing between traffic measures taken on different elements of the road network. The study analyses and applies different implicit models for short-term prediction on a large road network: namely, time-dependent artificial neural networks and Bayesian networks. These models are validated and compared by exploiting a large database of link speeds recorded on the metropolitan area of Rome during seven months.

Mapping and Assessing Urban Agriculture in Rome

Abstract The paper focus on the concept of food and agriculture as an infrastructure – which is both spatial and relational -, within the context of the urban Mediterranean phenomenon, where, with all its political, cultural, economical, social and environmental differences, there is a common relationship with food and food production in an urban setting. The aim of this paper is to explore the agricultural context of Rome, focusing on its relationships with development in the metropolitan area, within the framework of sustainable food planning. Starting from the relationship between food and city, we have mapped the foodscape, identifying a number of representative conditions - typologies - in the metropolitan area of Rome. Through a of criteria - relationships with the urban fabric, production patterns, flows, services, infrastructures, environmental characters, social behaviour linked with the production - the study tries to summarise Roman agriculture. We focus on a set of recurring elements, involving both criticalities and opportunities, that bring together city and food production. Rome has what we could call a compact structure compared to the dispersed urban model and this has encouraged the development of local agricultural systems, where both flows and landscapes involve the city. While production is organised into wedge-shaped areas, the places where exchanges occur are mainly within the municipal area of Rome, with the exception of farms involved in direct sales. Despite a strong urbanization pressure caused a reduction of 42% of the utilised agricultural area (UAA) between 1990 and 2000, this trend was reverted back between 2000 and 2010, with an increase of the UAA of 14%. The analysis of land use (CLC, 2006) reveals a system of wedge-shaped agricultural areas, where short supply chain models can be used efficiently to manage and promote the use of land and landscape. In synthesis, in terms of their production systems, there is a high number of short supply chain farms in Rome (over 40%), mostly with mixed production systems linked to multifunctional farming. The role played by the local food network in Rome is remarkable, particularly in case of farmers’ market, SPG’ and those linked to box schemes experiences have seen significant success. The increasing importance of Alternative and Local Food Networks is showed in the data: the 60% of Rome municipalities farms sell directly (Istat, 2010) it was registered an increase of + 57% Farmers’ market at municipality level and of + 64% in Rome's province (2010/13) ( Marino et al., 2013 ). The local food network behind agriculture in the city, within a number of integrated social agrarian cooperative, who represented an alternative food production system and landmark for many initiatives carried out by the civil society, associations, cooperatives, volunteer and school sectors, community supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives. This account of short supply chains in Rome is inevitably the account of an urban phenomenon. It is indeed the city that determines its special characteristics for both physical and relational aspects. The mapped farms are mostly located near the main routes that radiate from the city to the countryside, underlining the centrality of the flow of exchanges that take place with the city. The processes of transformation affecting the primary sector in urban and suburban environments reflect an agriculture that forms (and produces) new landscape and functions, typically reconnected to the historical value of agriculture in and around the Mediterranean cities. Food, because of its cultural and historical place in Mediterranean tradition, has a significant role in configuring the areas where exchanges takes place, which are, therefore, specific places for meeting and forming relationships within the public spaces of a city. The system identified by the paper configures the set of all the different forms of agriculture and food in Rome as a device of resilience for the city, made up of places where flows, relationships and processes become increasingly more sustainable, and where both physical and intangible spaces act as an infrastructure in their exchange with the city.

A Study on the Reliability of an On-Site Oral Fluid Drug Test in a Recreational Context.

The reliability of DrugWipe 5A on site test for principal drugs of abuse (cannabis, amphetamines, cocaine, and opiates) detection in oral fluid was assessed by comparing the on-site results with headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis on samples extracted by the device collection pad. Oral fluid samples were collected at recreational settings (e.g., discos, pubs, and music bars) of Rome metropolitan area. Eighty-three club goers underwent the on-site drug screening test with one device. Independently from the result obtained, a second device was used just to collect another oral fluid sample subsequently extracted and analyzed in the laboratory following HS-SPME procedure, gas chromatographic separation by a capillary column, and MS detection by electron impact ionization. DrugWipe 5A on-site test showed 54 samples (65.1%) positive to one or more drugs of abuse, whereas 75 samples (90.4%) tested positive for one or more substances following GC-MS assay. Comparing the obtained results, the device showed sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy around 80% for amphetamines class. Sensitivity (67 and 50%) was obtained for cocaine and opiates, while both sensitivity and accuracy were unsuccessful (29 and 53%, resp.) for cannabis, underlying the limitation of the device for this latter drug class.

Human Mobility and Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department: A contribution to the knowledge of invisible flows

This article provides a full report of the results of a feasibility study for a project based on the combination of clinical figures with socio-economic data on human mobility within the metropolitan area of Rome. Acknowledging that Accident and Emergency (A&E) Departments represent privileged observatories of health issues of a given territory, the point of departure of this study is the patient register dataset of the A&E Department of the Policlinico Umberto I for the period 2000-2013. The data analysis reveals the existence of a specific relationship between diagnostic groups and certain ethnicities immigrated to Rome. Through a multidisciplinary approach, the analysis undertaken aims to improve the medical practice of the personnel working in facilities for immigrants. The knowledge acquired from the study can be in fact useful to quickly detect specific clinical patterns, overcoming any cultural barrier or linguistic obstacle. Moreover, the analysis can provide suggestions to improve health policies, creating, together with the relevant healthcare facilities, pathways for prevention and care of certain diseases.

Meteo-climatic analysis during the period 1984 – 2014 in Rome area (Central Italy)

In this paper rainfall trends and a seasonal distribution model of the period 1984-2014 for the urban area of Rome and surroundings are presented using the available data of 46 rain gauge stations. The average annual precipitation is 793 mm in the urban area and increases up to 945 mm in the surrounding hilly areas. The seasonal distribution of the isohyets is almost homogeneous, increasing from plain towards hilly areas. The scattered variability of annual rainfall does not allow the recognition of trends and cyclic tendencies, with the exception of seasonal variations. Nevertheless, the rainfall analysis highlights an increasing trend in winter and, to a lesser significant extent, in summer, while a decreasing tendency characterizes autumns and, definitely less spring periods. The annual rainfall time series analysis show significant changes for 28% out of the 46 stations considered, i.e.: descending to ascending trends or increasing of average values concomitant to the absence of significant trends. The plots of three-monthly (seasonal) total rainfall values show, for most of the rainfall stations, a winter season characterized by a negative to positive tendency inversion around 1993. According to the qualitative classification of the Seasonal Index (SI), the study area sectors fall between the classes “uniform but with a clear wet season” (SI=0.20-0.39) and “fairly seasonal with a minor dry season” (SI=0.40-0.59).The analysis of the rainfall was further developed by spatial elaboration of long-term trends derived from the data analysis of the Standard Precipitation Index (SPI), aggregated at annual, semiannual and quarterly scale.The analysis of the temperature data of 21 stations for the period 1984-2014 highlighted that, generally, isotherms follow the topographic elevations and the existence of an area, coinciding with the metropolitan area of Rome, characterized by temperatures greater than those of the surroundings.

Blending adaptive governance and institutional theory to explore urban resilience and sustainability strategies in the Rome metropolitan area, Italy

Adaptive governance is an emerging theory in natural resource management. This paper addresses a gap in the literature by exploring the potential of adaptive governance for delivering resilience and sustainability in the urban context. We explore emerging challenges to transitioning to urban resilience and sustainability: bringing together multiple scales and institutions; facilitating a social–ecological-systems approach; and embedding social and environmental equity into visions of urban sustainability and resilience. Current approaches to adaptive governance could be helpful for addressing these first two challenges but not in addressing the third. Therefore, this paper proposes strengthening the institutional foundations of adaptive governance by engaging with institutional theory. We explore this through empirical research in the Rome Metropolitan Area, Italy. We argue that explicitly engaging with these themes could lead to a more substantive urban transition strategy and contribute to adaptive governance theory.

Setting Priorities for Urban Forest Planning. A Comprehensive Response to Ecological and Social Needs for the Metropolitan Area of Rome (Italy)

Urban forests represent key elements of green infrastructure and provide essential ecosystem services in both the ecological and social spheres. Therefore, forestation planning plays a decisive role in the sustainable development strategies of metropolitan areas and addresses the challenge of maintaining biodiversity while improving human health and well-being. The aim of this work is to present a methodological approach that can be used to identify priorities in urban forest planning and can provide comprehensive responses to ecological and social needs in any metropolitan context. The approach, which is based on interdisciplinary principles of landscape ecology, ecosystem geography and dynamic plant sociology, has been adopted in the Municipality of Rome (Italy). The first step entails defining an ecological framework for forestation plans by means of the ecological land classification and assessment of landscape conservation status. The second step entails setting forestation priorities according to both ecological and social criteria. The application of the method proved to effectively select limited areas requiring intervention within an extensive metropolitan area. Furthermore, it provided responses to sustainability issues such as long-term maintenance of restored habitats, landscape perspective of planning, greening of urban agriculture, improvement in urban resilience, and cost-effective improvement in ecosystem services provision.

THE EVOLUTION OF ROMAN FRONTIER CONCEPT AND POLICY

The Roman power is, ideologically, infinite in time and space. Nevertheless, the Roman state had experienced a wide variety of territorial limits, evolving in time and space, more or less throughout a millennium. If at first the Roman state, limited to Rome metropolitan area, later to the Italian peninsula, was easily defensible, beginning with the heavy expansion, also came trouble. The Romans, always innovating, find solutions for the fortification of the contact zones with the Barbarians. The Roman frontier concept was fundamentally different from the modern one. If the defence of Roman possessions was obviously priority, the border should remain an open ensemble, allowing for the free circulation of people and goods, some of the fundamental Roman rights. The peak of Roman expansion, 2 nd century A.D. brings also the maximum development of the Empire frontier. Dacia overlaps widely chronologically on this trend, this being one of the reasons for one of the most complex frontier system in the Empire.

Researches in Castelporziano test site: ecophysiological studies on Mediterranean vegetation in a changing environment

Urbanization processes increased dramatically in the past century leading to the emission of large quantities of air pollutants over relatively small areas. The consequent high concentration of pollutants and particulate matter (PM) have clear detrimental effects not only on human health, but also on urban and peri-urban vegetation. In this context, the Castelporziano Presidential Estate, a protected natural area located at the southeastern edge of the large conurbation of Rome (Italy), represents an ideal site to study the interaction between vegetation and atmospheric pollutants. Here we present an overview of the international field campaigns carried out in Castelporziano during the past 20 years, and of the ongoing research activities aimed to understanding the role of the estate in the provision of ecosystem services to the Metropolitan area of Rome. The exposure and potential detrimental effects of air pollutants such as tropospheric ozone and PM on natural vegetation have been assessed, investigating also the potential capacity of vegetation to ameliorate air quality under Mediterranean climatic condition. The results show that a correct assessment of the Ecosystem Services (ESs) provided by Mediterranean vegetation must consider the functional strategies that different species adopt to cope with drought stress, including the species-specific response of stomatal conductance to atmospheric water pressure difference, as well as the length of the drought period and its inter annual variability. Our results highlight the need to adopt managements strategies to mainten and implement the ESs provided by the important peri-urban natural area of Castelporziano.

Urban and peri-urban forests in the metropolitan area of Rome: Ecophysiological response of Quercus ilex L. in two green infrastructures in an ecosystem services perspective

Green infrastructures (GI), such as urban forests, deliver ecosystem services (ESs) and benefits. Among ESs the amelioration of urban air quality through the removal of air pollutants deserves large attention owing to the positive impact on human well-being. Experimental data, as detailed descriptions of functional parameters, are needed for reliable quantification of ESs. The present study was carried out in the metropolitan area of Rome, considering an urban and a periurban forest. Both forests are dominated by Quercus ilex L., which has been chosen as target species for its wide natural distribution in the Mediterranean Basin, as well as for its widespread use in urban contexts. The two studied sites were characterized by different environmental stressor and forest management practices, resulting in different trends of leaf gas exchanges, photosystems functionality and plant water status. During spring, gas exchanges were lower in the urban than in the periurban forest, due to higher air temperature and vapor pressure deficit in the latter site. During summer, instead, in the periurban area the functionality of Q. ilex was affected by drought, which did not occur in the urban forest due to higher summer rainfalls as well as periodic irrigations. The water use efficiency was basically lower in the urban park, as well as the photosystems functionality. Differences in the intensity of the main phenological phases were also highlighted. Our results point out that the two GIs fulfill a complementary role in the ESs provision in the metropolitan area of Rome, in relation to the ozone removal and the resulting air quality improvement and climate regulation.

An Advanced Traveller Advisory Tool Based on Individual Preferences

This paper presents some theoretical and operative aspects of TVPTA (Tor Vergata Personal Travel Advisor), an Advanced Traveller Advisory Tool (ATAT) under development at the Transport Centre of the “Tor Vergata” University of Rome. It should be able to assist users travelling on multimodal networks, suggesting the best paths according to their personal preferences. Such paths are individuated on the basis of the estimation of a perceived path utility formalised within the Random Utility Theory.The first part of this paper illustrates the user needs, the logical and the functional architecture of TVPTA; it also includes the transit modelling framework to provide personalized pre-trip information and the learning process to capture individual preferences. The second part describes an implementation example of TVPTA concepts in the metropolitan area of Rome (Italy).

Can we interpret the evolution of coastal land use conflicts? Using Artificial Neural Networks to model the effects of alternative development policies

Environmental conflicts in coastal areas are determined by the interaction of global and local phenomena. Identifying the factors characterising the evolution of conflicts in relation to spatial dynamics is complex. Analysing related data and interpreting the results necessitate the use of methods that take this complexity into account. Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have been used to accomplish this task. Although ANN have been widely implemented in physics, natural science and engineering, their application in spatial and social science is still in an early stage.We present the results of a study concerning land use conflict in the area of Civitavecchia, the main harbour of the Rome metropolitan area. Local environmental issues are air pollution from a large thermal power plant, the movement of ferries, cruise ships, and increased individual commuting. We simulate alternative policy scenarios for the conflict under study in a wider context involving 27 cases. Results indicate that only an environment-led policy is capable of reducing the intensity of the conflict. The other two proposed development tracks focussing on economic efficiency and social equity would slightly aggravate the conflict.

Agro-forest landscape and the ‘fringe’ city: A multivariate assessment of land-use changes in a sprawling region and implications for planning

The present study evaluates the impact of urban expansion on landscape transformations in Rome's metropolitan area (1500km2) during the last sixty years. Landscape composition, structure and dynamics were assessed for 1949 and 2008 by analyzing the distribution of 26 metrics for nine land-use classes. Changes in landscape structure are analysed by way of a multivariate statistical approach providing a summary measure of rapidity-to-change for each metric and class. Land fragmentation increased during the study period due to urban expansion. Poorly protected or medium-low value added classes (vineyards, arable land, olive groves and pastures) experienced fragmentation processes compared with protected or high-value added classes (e.g. forests, olive groves) showing larger ‘core’ areas and lower fragmentation. The relationship observed between class area and mean patch size indicates increased fragmentation for all uses of land (both expanding and declining) except for urban areas and forests. Reducing the impact of urban expansion for specific land-use classes is an effective planning strategy to contrast the simplification of Mediterranean landscape in peri-urban areas.