Janez Pirnat

Bridging the Gap between Centrally Defined Policies and Local Decisions – Towards more Sensitive and Creative Rural Landscape Management

European policies and instruments such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and many instruments for nature and landscape conservation in Europe have for some decades been dominated by centralisation and standardisation. This paper shows that this has led to the neglect of contextual and place-related approaches and an unnecessarily high degree of over-simplification. Recently, as a reaction to this over-simplification, diversity and specific character has been particularly stressed in many European and national strategies for rural landscapes and conservation, but the processes of simplification still continue. Using examples from mixed agriculture and forestry landscapes in Portugal, Slovenia and Sweden, this paper aims to contribute to understanding the gap between centrally defined strategies for rural landscapes and awareness and management practices at local level. The three countries are situated at the outer fringes of Europe, and are complementary with their different degrees of urbanisation, forest distribution and tree-richness in the agricultural landscapes. Furthermore, the aim is to show how local landscape management is driven and to identify factors contributing to a better use of public policies through a participatory process with visions for the future. Systems of landscape classifications such as landscape character assessment often recognise the specific character of these landscapes, but have so far achieved very little for the preservation of their locally specific values, nor have they contributed to the development and the creation of new visions for future management. Such systems could contribute much more if they could be opened to adaptation on a more local scale in communication-led management planning.

Conservation and management of forest patches and corridors in suburban landscapes

Abstract Forest patches and corridors in the suburban landscape can be viewed as stepping stones between urban forests and forests in the adjacent forested landscape. The construction of a motorway around Ljubljana, Slovenia, has broken up, to a large extent, natural connectivity between urban vegetation and natural vegetation in the suburban landscape. A sample section of the planned Ljubljana–Maribor motorway traversing a case study area was used to show that the motorway will severely affect several tree corridors and break up forest patches in the suburban landscape north-east of Ljubljana. Existing forest patches and corridors enable migration between larger forest complexes to the west and east. The proposed section of motorway traversing the study area will break up most of these interconnections or at least aggravate the situation. Data on land uses and on the arrangement of forests, forest remains, corridors and tree belts in the study area were collected using satellite images. A model of a new connectivity was established using GIS. This study suggests that new corridors of trees be established along the motorway to connect the fragmented remains of the ecological infrastructure. Such a network of forest patches and corridors would represent a higher connectivity of natural vegetation and would constitute a necessary tool for the preservation of interconnections between urban and suburban forests in the suburban landscape. These areas of natural vegetation could also be one of the solutions to the conservation of biodiversity in the urban forests of Ljubljana.

Polarization enhanced 14N NQR detection with a nonhomogeneous magnetic field

Abstract The use of proton polarization enhancement of low frequency 14 N NQR signals was tested. An improvement of NQR signals was observed in samples of (N 3 (NO 2 ) 3 (CH 2 ) 3 , (CH 2 ) 6 N 4 and (NO 2 )C 6 H 4 COOH). A very nonhomogeneous magnetic field obtained with a permanent magnet was used for proton polarization.

Urban Forest Resources in European Cities

In order to protect, manage and develop urban forests, it is essential to know their condition and understand the challenges they face. This chapter aims to give a broad overview of the state of the urban forest resource in Europe’s towns and cities in order to identify both common and particular features and challenges. For this purpose, the urban forest will be defined broadly as comprising all the trees and woods within an urban area (see Chap. 1). The characterization of the urban forest and the assessment of its condition in European cities and towns is a challenging task, as few data exist or have been published. A comprehensive European inventory of the urban forest resource is not currently available. For this book chapter, data on the whole green-space resource, and more specifically, on urban woodlands was obtained from a few existing surveys of selected cities and towns (Galzer 1987; EEA 1999a,b; Konijnendijk 1999; Pauleit et al. 2002). Therefore, case studies have been chosen with which the authors are familiar through their own work in order to characterize the urban forest in more detail for a range of large urban areas. The case studies chosen are Oslo (Norway), the Black Country, north of Birmingham (United Kingdom), Munich (Germany), Ljubljana (Slovenia) and Florence (Italy). These case studies represent a geographical crosssection from Scandinavia (Oslo) to southern Europe (Florence). They also comprise different urban situations, with an economically booming city region (Munich), an urban area undergoing a process of economic restructuring (Black Country), a city in a transition economy (Ljubljana) and a prospering city in the south with a famous historical heritage (Florence). Parameters such as woodland cover and their age and species composition serve as indicators of urban forest provision, structure and quality. Where available, further information is used to assess the health status of the urban forest. Each case study highlights some of the major impacts on urban forests, such as the loss and fragmentation of ancient woodland through urbanization, as well as the threat to street trees. The conclusions of the chapter include general as well as particular challenges for the sustainable preservation and development of European urban forests. Urban Forest Resources in European Cities

Improved N14 nuclear quadrupole resonance detection of trinitrotoluene using polarization transfer from protons to N14 nuclei

Combination of proton-nitrogen level crossing polarization transfer and pulsed spin-locking sequence makes N14 nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) in trinitrotoluene fast and sensitive enough to be used in routine detection of explosives. Enhancement factors for all three N14 NQR lines (the case with η≠0) were calculated and compared with experimental values. Good agreement between measured and calculated signal enhancement factors was observed. N14 NQR signals in a 15g trinitrotoluene sample of predominantly monoclinic modification were measured in 15s in different polarization magnetic fields. The conditions for optimal proton-nitrogen level crossing were determined.

Application of 14N NQR to the Study of Piroxicam Polymorphism

A study was conducted to test the capability of the (14)N nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) method to discriminate qualitatively and quantitatively among different forms of piroxicam. Samples of commercial piroxicam form I and its monohydrate were obtained on the local market. Additionally, samples of form I and II were prepared by recrystallization in 1,2-dichloroethane and ethanol, respectively. DSC and FT-IR were employed as reference methods. A (14)N NQR spectrometer was used to measure samples of different forms and mixtures of piroxicam at 2587 and 3439  kHz. DSC and FT-IR clearly confirmed differences between the different piroxicam forms. Measurements of (14)N NQR signals of different forms of piroxicam at 2587  kHz detected only spectral peaks of form I. The dependence of (14)N NQR signal intensity on the concentration of form I in mixtures with the monohydrate showed a clear linear relationship at both measured frequencies, though the scattering of data was greater at 3439  kHz due to the lower S/N ratio. The (14)N NQR method has the potential to become an additional and important spectroscopic tool in the study of solid-state forms, not only of pure active pharmaceutical ingredients or excipients, but also of their mixtures. This ability lends the method to a possible successful utilization at different levels of pharmaceutical manufacturing and product quality control.

Zeeman shift – A tool for assignment of 14N NQR lines of nonequivalent 14N atoms in powder samples

The use of Zeeman perturbed 14N nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) to determine the ν+ and ν-14N lines in polycrystalline samples with several nonequivalent nitrogen atoms was investigated. The 14N NQR line shift due to a weak external Zeeman magnetic field was calculated, assuming isotropic distribution of EFG tensor directions. We calculated the broad line distribution of the ν+ and ν- line shifts and experimentally confirmed the calculated Zeeman field dependence of singularities (NQR peaks) in cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine (RDX) and aminotetrazole monohydrate (ATMH). The calculated and measured frequency shifts agreed well. The proposed measurement method enabled determination of which 14N NQR lines in ATMH belong to ν+ and which to ν- transitions.

A miniaturized NQR spectrometer for a multi-channel NQR-based detection device

A low frequency (0.5-5 MHz) battery operated sensitive pulsed NQR spectrometer with a transmitter power up to 5 W and a total mass of about 3 kg aimed at detecting (14)N NQR signals, predominantly of illicit materials, was designed and assembled. This spectrometer uses a standard software defined radio (SDR) platform for the data acquisition unit. Signal processing is done with the LabView Virtual instrument on a personal computer. We successfully tested the spectrometer by measuring (14)N NQR signals from aminotetrazole monohydrate (ATMH), potassium nitrate (PN), paracetamol (PCM) and trinitrotoluene (TNT). Such a spectrometer is a feasible component of a portable single or multichannel (14)N NQR based detection device.

14N Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Study of Piroxicam: Confirmation of New Polymorphic Form V

A new polymorphic crystal form of piroxicam was discovered while preparing crystalline samples of piroxicam for (14) N nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) analysis. The new crystal form, designated as V, was prepared by evaporative recrystallization from dichloromethane. Three known polymorphic forms (I, II, and III) were also prepared. Our aim was to apply (14) N NQR to characterize the new polymorphic form of piroxicam and compare the results with those of the other known polymorphic forms. Additional analytical methods used for characterization were X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), thermal analysis, and vibrational spectroscopy. For the first time, a complete set of nine characteristic (14) N NQR frequencies was found for each prepared polymorph of piroxicam. The consistent set of measured frequencies and calculated characteristic quadrupole parameters found for the new polymorphic form V is a convincing evidence that we are dealing with a new form. The already known piroxicam polymorphic forms were characterized similarly. The XRPD results were in accordance with the conclusions of (14) N NQR analysis. The performed study clearly demonstrates a strong potential of (14) N NQR method to be applied as a highly discriminative spectroscopic analytical tool to characterize polymorphic forms.

Outdoor Education, Life Long Learning and Skills Development in Woodlands and Green Spaces: The Potential Links to Health and Well-Being

Formal and informal education and learning in woodlands and green spaces can play an important role in contributing to people’s health and well-being. Two mechanisms are outlined which might explain this: (1) through general exposure to nature when undertaking educational activities outdoors; (2) through active ‘hands on’ intensive and/or extensive contact with nature gained through learning outdoors. Outdoor learning, what it is and what it involves is described as well as three learning theories particularly relevant to outdoor learning. The links between outdoor learning and health focusing on the two mechanisms outlined above are explored in detail. Conclusions highlight potential ways in which to encourage the use of woodlands and green spaces to deliver learning, and health and well-being outcomes.