Abstract
Vernacular houses constructed using local woods contain information about forest‐resource use. To clarify how timber was used to construct wooden farmhouses, we identified the timber species ...composition of 11 houses built between 1845 and about 1940 in Tadami, a snowy rural area in northeastern Japan, and interviewed 70 residents. We recorded 2004 timber parts (99–308 parts per house) and 171.2 m
3
(1828 parts) of known species (14 taxa).
Cryptomeria japonica
(cedar) and
Pinus parviflora
var.
pentaphylla
(white pine) were used for all essential structural parts and accounted for 44% and 39% of the total timber volume, respectively.
Fagus crenata
(beech) was the third most commonly used species (7%), for roof supports, beams, and girders. The interviews revealed that the timber was typically sourced from local private or common woodlands within 1 km and that local craftsmen selected and hauled the trees. Considering the region's unique and complex vegetation, as land‐cover distribution is strongly influenced by frequent avalanches, the timber was likely managed within local stands of tall trees, and the most available species would have been cedar (although whether native or planted is unknown), followed by native white pine on mountain ridges around settlements. In comparison, beech stands that could supply sufficient amounts of timber might have been limited. Based on the characteristics of the trees used as house timber in Tadami, we conclude that despite the surrounding harsh, snowy conditions, locally available species of tall trees were historically selected for timbers.
The main objective of this article is the measurement of the passive hygrothermal behaviour and indoor comfort in the traditional Basque architectural model as it has developed and evolved since the ...15th Century. For that purpose, the traditional farmhouse architecture in the River Lea valley, located in the Historical Territory of Bizkaia (Basque Country, Spain) and characterized by a temperate-humid climate, was studied and evaluated.
Since the origin of the Basque farmhouse as an « architectural model» in the 15th Century, not only have its construction system, structure, architectural composition and construction materials evolved, but also the indoor hygrothermal variables, the Operative Temperature °C and Relative Humidity % have gradually evolved. In order to obtain the base behaviour diagnosis, computational models have been developed using Design Builder v.5.0.1.024 simulation programme. In addition, based on Olgyay's, Givoni's and ASHRAE's Standard 55–2013 conditions, three hygrothermal comfort ranges have been defined to determine the relationship between the two hygrothermal variables and indoor human well-being.
As a result, it is concluded that the evolution of the construction of the architectural farmhouse model has had a hidden or unknown but significant influence on the hygrothermal performance of the buildings and, therefore, on the level of human comfort; through their evolution they have become more comfortable buildings.
•From the 15th to 19th Century the indoor hygrothermal variables gradually evolve.•The adaptation of the construction has had an unknown and positive influence.•They have become more temperate and comfortable buildings through their adaptation.•Indoor human comfort level is low if compared to actual regulative conditions.•Summer period is in comfort zone and no cooling strategies are needed.
Transmission of leishmaniasis in endemic areas is characterized by microfocality related to the presence of the vector. Most entomological studies in southwestern Europe have focused on sylvatic ...areas and town outskirts, very few have sampled town or urban centres, and no survey has investigated inside households. The aim of this study was to determine the sand fly species diversity and vector density in the surroundings of human leishmaniasis cases compared with environments in which there was no association. Sand flies were captured in 26 households associated with recently treated leishmaniasis patients, 15 neighbouring houses without associated cases, and in others environments. Overall 7495 sand flies belonging to six species were captured. The highest sand fly density was found in farmhouses where there is a great availability of blood sources and breeding sites. In the environment of human leishmaniasis cases, Sergentomyia minuta was the most prevalent species followed by Phlebotomus perniciosus. Nevertheless, lower Leishmania infantum infection rates and lower intensity of infection were detected in S. minuta sand flies than in P. perniciosus. The density of P. perniciosus in households with recently treated leishmaniasis patients varies between 0 and 108 sand flies per light trap/night, with the maximum values corresponding to farmhouses. This species appears to be adapted to both indoors and outdoors domestic biotopes, including urban households.
There is still room for further studies analyzing the long-term health impact of specific dietary patterns observable in regions belonging to the Mediterranean area. The aim of the study is to ...evaluate how much a diet practiced in southern Italy is associated to a risk of mortality. The study population included 2472 participants first investigated in 1985, inquiring about their frequencies of intake of 29 foods using a self-administered questionnaire covering the previous year. The population was followed up for mortality until 31 December 2017. Cox-based risk modeling referred to single foods, food groups, the results of principal component analysis (PCA), and a priori indexes. Single food analysis revealed eggs, fatty meat, and fatty/baked ham to be inversely associated with mortality. Furthermore, one of the 5 PCA derived dietary patterns, the "Farmhouse" pattern, showed a higher hazard ratio (HR), mostly driven by dairy products. In subsequent analyses, the increased risk of mortality for fresh cheese and decreased risk for fatty ham and eggs were confirmed. The a priori diet indexes (Italian Meddiet, Meddietscore, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet (MIND) indexes) showed borderline inverse relationships. In a Mediterranean population with an overall healthy diet, foods such as eggs and fatty meat, reflecting dietary energy and wealth, played a role in prolonging the life of individuals. Our study confirms that some dairy products might have a detrimental role in mortality in the Mediterranean setting.
By collecting theoretical research and practical cases on the application of big data in agricultural production and management at home and abroad, this article is based on the actual production and ...management of rural farmers, deeply analyzes the current situation of big data construction, and finds a model suitable for the development of local agricultural big data. We establish an agricultural big data system suitable for rural characteristics and provide suggestions and suggestions. First of all, this article is based on actual research. Through interviews and questionnaires on the occupational differentiation and agricultural production management of local farmers, the relevant theoretical connections are made, through descriptive statistical analysis of data, and Stata is used for intersectionality. This study uses modular construction methods to build a complete industrialized farm house system and, on this basis, combines the nature of family industry and family intergenerational relationship to divide the unit types and combinations of industrialized modular farm houses. In corresponding analysis and discussion, the test shows that the professional differentiation of farmers is related to the willingness of agricultural production management and agricultural production management behavior. Secondly, this paper uses logistic model to carry out empirical analysis of influencing factors and conducts research on the influencing factors of agricultural production management willingness and agricultural production management behaviors of farmers with different occupational differentiation degrees and models agricultural production management willingness and agricultural production management behaviors, respectively, for empirical testing. Farmers’ professional differentiation has related influence factors on agricultural production management willingness and land transfer behavior. After analyzing the results of the model, this article concludes that the occupational differentiation of farmers has a significant impact on the willingness of agricultural production management, and the specific manifestations are significant in many aspects such as farmers’ age, education level, whether they have nonagricultural employment skills, and the number of family agricultural labors. The professional differentiation of farmers also has a significant impact on agricultural production management behavior, which is specifically manifested in many aspects such as farmers’ age, education level, nonagricultural employment skills, and geographical location of land.
The sustainable urban redevelopment project to protect biodiversity was developed to regenerate the external spaces of an ancient rural farmhouse, Villa Framarino, in the regional Natural Park of ...Lama Balice, a shallow erosive furrow (lama) rich in biodiversity, between two suburbs of the city of Bari (Apulia, Italy) and close to the city airport. This work includes a complex system of activities aimed not only at a spatial revaluation, necessary to relaunch the urban image, but it is accompanied by interventions of a cultural, social, economic, environmental and landscape nature, aimed at increasing the quality of life, in compliance with the principles of sustainability and social participation. One of the means to revitalize a territory subject to redevelopment is the planning of events and activities of socio-cultural value that involve the population to revive the sense of belonging to the territory and the community and at the same time to protect the biodiversity of the urban park of the protected natural area.
Mancozeb (MNZ) is a fungicide commonly employed in many countries worldwide. This study assesses MNZ absorption dynamics in 19 greenhouse farmers, specifically following dermal exposure, aiming to ...verify the efficacy of both preventive actions and protective equipment. For data collection, a multi-assessment approach was used, which included a survey to record study population features. MNZ exposure was assessed through the indirect measurement of ethylene thiourea (ETU), widely employed as an MNZ biomarker. The ETU concentration was measured with the patch method, detecting environmental ETU trapped in filter paper pads, applied both on skin and working clothes, during the 8 h work shift. Urine and serum end-of-shift samples were also collected to measure ETU concentrations and well-known oxidative stress biomarkers, respectively, namely reactive oxygen metabolites (ROMs), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), and biological antioxidant potential (BAP). It was observed that levels of ETU absorbed and ETU excreted were positively correlated. Additionally, working clothes effectively protected workers from MNZ exposure. Moreover, following stratification of the samples based on the specific working duty (i.e., preparation and spreading of MNZ and manipulation of MNZ-treated seedlings), it was found that the spreading group had higher ETU-related risk, despite lower chronic exposure levels. AOPP and ROM serum levels were higher in MNZ-exposed subjects compared with non-exposed controls, whereas BAP levels were significantly lower. Such results support an increase in the oxidative stress upon 8 h MNZ exposure at work. In particular, AOPP levels demonstrated a potential predictive role, as suggested by the contingency analysis results. Overall, this study, although conducted in a small group, confirms that ETU detection in pads, as well as in urine, might enable assessment of the risk associated with MNZ exposure in greenhouse workers. Additionally, the measurement of circulating oxidative stress biomarkers might help to stratify exposed workers based on their sensitivity to MNZ. Pivotally, the combination of both ETU measurement and biological monitoring might represent a novel valuable combined approach for risk assessment in farmhouse workers exposed to pesticides. In the future, these observations will help to implement effective preventive strategies in the workplace for workers at higher risk, including greenhouse farmers who are exposed to pesticides daily, as well as to clarify the occupational exposure levels to ETU.
Organoarsenic compounds are widely used in chicken feed for control of coccidial parasite, quick weight gain, and for imparting attractive color to the chicken flesh. A study was conducted to assess ...the level of arsenic in both chicken feed and flesh. Chicken feed was collected from 10 farm houses and total arsenic was estimated. The quantitative estimation suggests that the four levels of chicken feed contain different quantities of arsenic load. The results demonstrated that feed at stages III and IV levels contain 0.01 mg/g and 0.018 mg/g of arsenic respectively. However, at stages I and II levels, the feed contains 0.005 mg/g and 0.0052 mg/g of arsenic respectively. Proceeding similarly, chicken flesh was collected from ten vendors in the local markets of Burdwan. The experimental results revealed that deposition of arsenic in different parts of chicken body is not same. The highest accumulation was recorded in the flesh of chest followed by stomach, whereas flesh of the legs and heart showed lower levels of arsenic accumulation. A comprehensive calculation was thereafter done to assess the total amount of arsenic ingestion through consumption of chicken. If a person takes 60.0 g of chicken flesh (leg, breast, muscles, and stomach) everyday, then the person may consume 0.186–0.372 μg of arsenic per day. This study therefore clearly suggests that excessive consumption of poultry chicken may prove to be fatal. However, further research is necessary to confirm the present findings. To the best of our knowledge, this is probably the first report on the likelihood of arsenic contamination in the flesh of different body parts of poultry chicken from Eastern India.
In recent years, governments, public institutions, and local communities have devoted growing attention to the identification of promising strategies for the preservation and valorization of cultural ...heritage assets. Decisions on the management of cultural heritage assets based on multiple, often conflicting, criteria and on the stakes of various, and potentially non-consensual actors and stakeholders. In this context, in which the trade-offs between the preservation of assets historical symbolic values and the adaptation to alternative and economically profitable uses play a key role in investment decisions, multi-criteria analyses provide robust theoretical and methodological frameworks to support decision-makers in the design and implementation of adaptive reuse strategies for cultural heritage and public real estate assets. In this paper, we provide a multi-criteria decision aiding approach for ranking valorization strategies of cultural heritage assets aimed at promoting their restoration and conservation, as well as at creating cultural and economic benefits. In detail, we present a novel application of the A’WOT analysis to support the design and implementation of alternative management strategies of abandoned cultural heritage assets. The paper focuses on the potential reuse and management of four historical farmhouses (Cascina Mandria, Cascina Lavanderia, Cascina Gozzani, and Cascina Ortovalle) located in the Agliè Castle estate, one of the Residences of the Royal House of Savoy, currently listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
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