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The Notion of Agricultural Enterprise and the Application of the Italian Insolvency and Over-Indebtedness Framework in Light of the EU Insolvency Directive
No full textThe issue of business crisis and insolvency in the Italian agricultural sector has gained renewed prominence following recent legislative reforms and the national transposition of Directive (EU) 2019/1023 on preventive restructuring frameworks, debt discharge and disqualifications, and measures to enhance the efficiency of restructuring and insolvency procedures. In the Italian legal framework, the treatment of agricultural enterprises facing insolvency is characterized by structural complexities arising from their distinctive legal classification and socio-economic role, factors which have long underpinned the legislative choice to accord them a specific and exceptional legal status.
This framework grants access to debt relief mechanisms not based on their classification as “small entrepreneurs”, but rather by their unique legal status, thereby shaping the scope and application of crisis management instruments in a sector traditionally afforded special legislative attention
Household energy poverty amidst large-scale electrification: Impacts of grid reliability and off-grid solar technologies
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Steklov vs. Steklov: A fourth-order affair related to the Babuška paradox
No full textWe discuss two fourth-order Steklov problems and highlight a Babuška paradox appearing in their approximations on convex domains via sequences of convex polygons. To do so, we prove that the eigenvalues of one of the two problems depend with continuity upon domain perturbation in the class of convex domains, extending a result known in the literature for the first eigenvalue. This is obtained by examining in detail a nonlocal second order problem for harmonic functions introduced by Ferrero, Gazzola, and Weth. We further review how this result is connected to diverse variants of the classical Babuška paradox for the hinged plate and to a degeneration result by Maz’ya and Nazarov
Thermal desorption kinetics and framework evolution in VOC-loaded FAU-Type zeolite Y: An in situ XRPD study
No full textThis study reports a detailed investigation of the desorption kinetics of toluene and chlorobenzene from a high-silica FAU-type Y zeolite (SiO2/Al2O3 ≈ 200) by in situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction under dynamic (298–973 K) and isothermal (443–523 K) conditions. Dynamic XRPD data reveal a progressive unit cell contraction (∼0.4–0.5 %) and an increase in the intensity of the (111) reflection, consistent with the gradual release of VOCs and pore evacuation. Activation energies were calculated using Avrami–Erofeev and Arcenegui–Troya kinetic models, the latter incorporating non-Arrhenius behavior attributed to cooperative effects. The higher activation energy observed for chlorobenzene (28.13 ± 3.93 kJ/mol) compared to toluene (17.31 ± 0.66 kJ/mol) is attributed to stronger quadrupole–cation interactions, reduced rotational entropy, and cooperative desorption barriers arising from molecular crowding. These findings provide fundamental structural insights into host–guest interactions and framework stability during VOC desorption, informing the design of regenerable zeolite adsorbents for environmental applications
Vehicle Dynamics—Fundamentals
No full textThis Chapter presents the fundamental concepts of vehicle dynamics, in a rigorous yet relatively brief fashion. Bearing in mind the lack of unanimous conventions and stressing the need to fully control the hypotheses behind any model, formula or reasoning, this Chapter presents the three constituents of any (full) vehicle dynamics model: constitutive equations (tire model), congruence equations (kinematics), equilibrium equations (rigid body dynamics). Then, further insights and practical considerations are provided on a bunch of relevant aspects, including: radius of curvature (often misunderstood), sideslip angle (often not investigated with adequate depth), classical—and novel—perspectives on understeer and steady-state handling behavior
A comprehensive review of thermal energy storage technologies and their applications: Creation of a database
No full textGreen pigment hybrid of natural melanin and cellulose nanofibers for sustainable UV-shielding and antioxidant activity
No full textThe present work reports on a sustainable hybrid pigment obtained from a combination of melanin nanoparticles (MNPs) from the cuttlefish Sepia pharaonis and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) from the sea squirt Pyura chilensis. The characterization of the cellulose nanofiber–melanin nanoparticle (CNF-MNP) hybrid was carried out by FTIR, XRD, DLS, FESEM and EDS analyses confirming that the two sources had been successfully combined, with some degree of crystalline disruption of cellulose. DLS characterisation of the hybrid showed its uniform hydrodynamic size around ~300 nm. UV–Vis spectroscopy illustrated its good and stable absorbance in the 200–400 nm region, indicating an efficient capacity for blocking ultraviolet radiation. When added to an emulsion formulation at 0.5 % (w/v) dosage, the CNF-MNP hybrid produced a high Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 26.6 ± 2.6, compared to formulations containing only CNFs (SPF 12.9 ± 1.2) or MNP (SPF 13.7 ± 1.3), or to the blank base (SPF 5.7 ± 0.6). Moreover, the CNF-MNP hybrid demonstrated a concentration-dependent antioxidant activity by DPPH assay (31.2 % inhibition at 1 mg mL 1), suggesting a free radical scavenging potential and a synergistic effect of CNFs and MNPs. Finally, cytotoxicity tests, using MTT assay on Hu02 and Vero cells, indicated that the CNF-MNP hybrid is highly biocompatible at low concentrations (>90 % cell viability at 1 μg mL 1) and >50 % cell viability at 1 mg mL 1. In summary, the proposed CNF-MNP hybrid represents a novel sustainable and multifunctional material thet can be effectively applied as sunscreen product, providing UV protection ability and antioxidant properties, and can be considered a promising future candidate for bio-based cosmetic products
Database-driven analysis of energy geostructures using a global dataset: Diffusion, efficiency, and environmental performance
Full text linkEnergy Geostructures (EGs) are multifunctional systems that combine structural support with thermal energy exchange using low-enthalpy geothermal energy. This study presents a comprehensive analysis based on a global database of 972 case studies from 27 countries, primarily in Europe, including real-world installations, test sites, and simulations. It focuses on the development and performance of various EG types – particularly energy piles (789 cases), energy walls (79), and energy tunnels (27) – making it the most extensive EG database to date.
Geographically, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and the UK lead in EG adoption, with Italy and France also contributing significantly. The analysis highlights both established technologies and emerging types, such as energy quay walls and barrettes, which show promising potential despite limited representation. The study reveals consistent geometric and design features: energy piles are used in small to medium-scale projects, energy walls offer large, activated surfaces, and tunnels are installed at intermediate depths. Thermal performance is linked to pipe configuration, diameter, spacing, materials, and environmental conditions – most systems are in stratified, moist soils in cool-temperate climates. EGs also offer environmental benefits, notably CO2 emissions reduction, reinforcing their value in sustainable infrastructure and heating and cooling network development
Unisolvence of unsymmetric random Kansa collocation by Gaussians and other analytic RBF vanishing at infinity
No full textWe give a short proof of almost sure invertibility of unsymmetric random Kansa collocation matrices by a class of analytic RBF vanishing at infinity, for the Poisson equation with Dirichlet boundary conditions. Such a class includes popular Positive Definite instances such as Gaussians, Generalized Inverse MultiQuadrics and Matérn RBF. The proof works on general domains in any dimension and with any distribution of boundary collocation points, assuming that the internal collocation points are i.i.d. continuous random variables with respect to any probability density