235 research outputs found
Zero Mile: validation, prototyping and scale up of a system for dishwasher wastewater upcycling
No full textLa crescente richiesta di acqua dolce e il suo massivo consumo, a fronte di una disponibilità limitata, insieme alla consistente produzione di acque reflue che ne riducono la quantità e ne depauperano la qualità rappresentano sfide sociali e ambientali cruciali in tutto il mondo. Date queste sfide, la gestione responsabile delle acque reflue diventa essenziale. Una corretta gestione delle acque reflue, non solo risolve i problemi legati al consumo idrico, ma offre anche possibilità di riciclo e riutilizzo di questa risorsa, aderendo perfettamente al concetto di economia circolare. Le acque reflue degli elettrodomestici, come lavastoviglie e lavatrici, raramente sono considerate una risorsa idrica recuperabile e sfruttabile, sebbene le acque reflue delle lavastoviglie siano ricche di sostanze nutritive (a causa degli avanzi) e contengano bassi livelli di agenti patogeni, metalli pesanti e prodotti farmaceutici. Esse non vengono riutilizzate perché prodotte in piccole quantità e da sorgenti puntiformi. Nell’ambito del progetto The Jetsons’ Kitchen, che si concentra sul riutilizzo e sul riciclo delle acque grigie della cucina, è stato progettato il Sistema Zero Mile dedicato al riuso delle acque reflue delle lavastoviglie. Questo sistema include una lavastoviglie e un orto verticale, che in combinazione consentono di riutilizzare le acque reflue della lavastoviglie sia nel primo risciacquo del successivo ciclo di lavaggio della lavastoviglie, sia nella coltivazione indoor di piante commestibili o ornamentali. Il cuore del Sistema Zero Mile è un biofiltro costituito da un consorzio microbico progettato ad hoc, composto da microrganismi diversi e selezionati per degradare e mineralizzare gli avanzi di cibo. Nello specifico, questo consorzio è composto da due diverse classi di partner microbici: un cianobatterio fotosintetico, filamentoso e azotofissatore (Trichormus variabilis, VRUC168 della Collezione dell'Università di Roma Tor Vergata) e tre ceppi batterici aerobi eterotrofi, isolati dalle acque di scarico di una lavastoviglie. I cianobatteri forniscono ossigeno per le attività catalitiche dei batteri eterotrofi attraverso la fotosintesi, mentre i partner eterotrofi consumano la materia organica, mineralizzando i nutrienti e rilasciando CO2 che a sua volta è utilizzata dai cianobatteri per svolgere l’attività fotosintetica. Questa specifica progettazione conferisce al consorzio proprietà intrinseche che consentono il trattamento biologico delle acque reflue delle lavastoviglie. Il primo studio condotto su questo consorzio ha dimostrato che esso è in grado di vivere e crescere nelle acque reflue delle lavastoviglie riducendone il carico di nutrienti in condizioni di coltura statica in 48 ore. Questo progetto di dottorato industriale è stato dunque dedicato a valutare la robustezza e l’efficienza del consorzio microbico ampliandone progressivamente la scala dal livello di laboratorio a una analoga a quella operativa reale. Simultaneamente, la ricerca è stata svolta oltre che dal punto di vista biologico anche da quello progettuale, in un approccio multidisciplinare. Inizialmente, il progetto si è concentrato sull'eco-fisiologia del consorzio per determinare e ottimizzare le migliori condizioni abiotiche per la sua crescita. Successivamente, è stata valutata la sopravvivenza del consorzio in varie condizioni operative, modificando la fonte di acqua, la lavastoviglie e il detersivo biodegradabile, rispetto al primo studio. Le impostazioni sperimentali sono state poi i) gradualmente modificate per simulare le condizioni operative del Sistema Zero Mile, che implicano l'immissione regolare 3 di acqua reflua nel biofiltro, e ii) progressivamente aumentate di volume per raggiungere condizioni di utilizzo realistiche, da piccoli test di laboratorio al volume totale di refluo scaricato dalla lavastoviglie. È stata valutata anche l'efficienza del consorzio nella rimozione di nutrienti, in particolare azoto e fosforo, alle varie scale sperimentali: l’efficacia del riciclo delle acque reflue biorimediate è tale che possono essere utilmente utilizzate per l’irrigazione di piante commestibili. Quest’ultima fase, integrando la gestione delle acque reflue delle lavastoviglie con la produzione di cibo, realizza il concetto di economia circolare e colloca perfettamente il progetto nel quadro dello sviluppo sostenibile previsto dall’Agenda 2030 (Goal #6 Acqua pulita e Igiene). I risultati biologici hanno offerto spunti cruciali per la progettazione del contenitore del biofiltro, che ospita il consorzio microbico, e dell’intero Sistema Zero Mile.The growing demand of fresh water and its huge consumption, despite its limited availability, along with
the important production of wastewater, represent critical social and environmental challenges worldwide.
Given these challenges, responsible wastewater management becomes essential. Properly managed
wastewater not only addresses water consumption issues, but also opens up possibilities for its recycling
and reuse, in the framework of circular economy.
Wastewater from domestic appliances, such as dishwashers and washing machines, is rarely considered a
recoverable and exploitable water resource. Although dishwasher wastewater is nutrient-rich (due to
leftovers) and have low levels of pathogens, heavy metals, and pharmaceuticals, it is not reused because it
is produced in small amounts and from point sources.
Within the framework of The Jetsons’ Kitchen project, which focuses on reusing and upcycling kitchen
greywaters, starting with dishwasher wastewater, the Zero Mile System was designed. It is a dishwasherintegrated system with an indoor vertical garden, which allows to reuse dishwasher wastewaters both in the
following first dishwasher rinsing and in the indoor cultivation of edible or ornamental plants.
The core of the Zero-Mile system is a biofilter that contains an ad hoc engineered microbial consortium
composed by selected different microorganisms able to process and mineralize the food leftovers.
Specifically, this consortium consists of two different microbial partners: a photosynthetic, filamentous,
and nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium (Trichormus variabilis, VRUC168 from the Tor Vergata Rome
University Collection) and three heterotrophic aerobic bacterial strains, isolated from a dishwasher
wastewater. The cyanobacteria provide oxygen for the catalytic activities of the heterotrophic bacteria
through photosynthesis, while the heterotrophic partners consume the organic matter, mineralizing
nutrients and releasing CO2 that, in turn, is used by the cyanobacteria for its photosynthetic activity. This
specific microbial engineering gives the consortium intrinsic properties for the bioprocessing of dishwasher
wastewater. The first study on this consortium showed that it can thrive in raw dishwasher wastewater and
reduce its nutrient load under batch conditions in 48 hours.
This industrial PhD project was dedicated to evaluate the robustness and efficiency of the microbial
consortium while it was progressively scaled up from laboratory-level to a real operational scale. The
research was conducted simultaneously from both the biological and design perspective, combining a
multidisciplinary approach.
Initially, the project focused on the eco-physiology of the consortium, to determine and optimize the best
abiotic conditions for its growth. Subsequently, the consortium's survival under different operational
conditions was evaluated by changing tap water, dishwasher machine, and biodegradable detergent,
compared to the previous study. The experimental settings were i) gradually modified to simulate the Zero
Mile operational conditions, which imply the regular input of wastewater into the biofilter, and ii)
progressively scaled up to achieve realistic operative conditions, from small lab-batches to the total volume
of discharged dishwasher wastewater.
The project's later stages focused on evaluating the efficiency of bioremediation in nutrient removal,
particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, across the various experimental conditions. Lastly, the bioremediated
wastewater was successfully utilised in edible plants watering.
This last point, integrating the dishwasher wastewater management with the food production, framed the
project in the circular economy and sustainable development framework as focused by the Agenda 2030
(Goal #6 Clean water and Sanitation).
The biological findings offered crucial insights into the design of the biofilter container, which includes the
microbial consortium, and the entire Zero Mile System
Staging/In scena
No full textWhat does being canonic mean for a dramatic text? Why is a text such as "Six characters in Search of an Author, a text that broke radically with the traditional structure of drama, expressing the crisis within fundamental categories of Westernthought, considered canonic? The author analyses the problem in two joint-text essays that accompany Pirandello's work, from the perspectives of ideas and that of the history of the dramatic form and performance: "inside the text" and "staging".The book is the first of a series of volumes designed to put together the pieces of an open mosaic, which has contributed significantly to the building and expression of the European consciousness
inside the text/dentro il testo
No full textWhat does being canonic mean for a dramatic text? Why is a text such as "Six characters in Search of an Author, a text that broke radically with the traditional structure of drama, expressing the crisis within fundamental categories of Westernthought, considered canonic? The author analyses the problem in two joint-text essays that accompany Pirandello's work, from the perspectives of ideas and that of the history of the dramatic form and performance: "inside the text" and "staging".The book is the first of a series of volumes designed to put together the pieces of an open mosaic, which has contributed significantly to the building and expression of the European consciousness
From kitchen to crop: The efficacy and safety of the microbial consortium treated dishwasher wastewater for the Zero Mile system
No full textA microbial consortium, based on the functional integration of photosynthetic and heterotrophic microorganisms, is the core of the Zero Mile System. This system is designed for reusing and upcycling household greywaters, a still untapped water resource. The previous challenges of dishwasher wastewater bioremediation demonstrated the capability of an ad hoc consortium (including a photosynthetic cyanobacterium and three heterotrophic bacterial isolates from dishwasher wastewater) to reclaim the wastewater at small/medium scale. In this study the wastewater treatment demonstrated to be effective in nutrient recycling and upcycling at a larger scale, i.e. 4 L (in three replicates to treat the total amount of wastewater discharged by the dishwasher), by removing high percentage of N and P from the wastewater (70% nitrogen, 50% phosphorous, respectively). Again, the reclaimed wastewater successfully fertilized lettuce plants both indoor (in the Zero Mile System demonstrator) and outdoor (in open field). Plants showed a significant higher biomass productivity in fresh weight compared to control plants and comparable or better values of the pigments and quality indices (e.g., soluble solids, total phenols, total flavonoids). Furthermore, the safety of the reclaimed wastewater is demonstrated by the analysis of the metabolic/ecologically relevant functions of the microbial communities in both untreated and treated wastewater. Colonizers were mainly organic matter degraders and bacteria involved in nitrogen cycling. The human related genera are quite few and no pathogens or potential microbiological contaminants of water bodies (as E. coli), were found. Hence, the utilization of treated dishwasher wastewater does not imply biological risks to agricultural products, soil, or groundwater
The green mummy of Bologna: FTIR spectroscopy offers new insight into the mummification process
No full textThe object of this study is the so-called “green mummy” of Bologna, a naturally mummified body that was found in the basement of an ancient mansion in Bologna in the twenties of last century. The hard and soft tissues of the body are green for the most. They were analyzed by means FTIR spectroscopy with the aim to gain information about the biochemical degradation process, to explain both the origin and the nature of the green color and to understand how it affected the body’s preservation
Uncovering the Fungal Community Composition of Alive and Dead Posidonia oceanica Matte
No full textPosidonia oceanica retains a large amount of carbon within its belowground recalcitrant structure, the 'matte,' which is characterized by low oxygen availability and biodegradation. Fungi may play a pivotal role in carbon sequestration within the matte, even if little/no information is available. To fill this gap, we profiled fungal communities from the upper and lower layers of alive and dead matte, by using an ITS2-5.8S rDNA metabarcoding approach. The study was conducted in a shallow coastal stretch of the Aegean Sea (Crete). Then, 184 operational taxonomic units were identified, predominantly belonging to Ascomycota, in alive and dead matte. Nevertheless, their composition significantly differed: the host-specific Posidoniomyces atricolor was dominant in alive but not in dead matte, while fast-growing saprotrophs, potentially accelerating the decomposition rate, increased in dead matte. These findings lay the groundwork for future investigations on the possible increase of biodegradation under the changing environmental conditions
The green mummy of Bologna: a multidisciplinary approach to the study of mummification process
No full textEcodesign Futures. A Wastewater Recycling System for Zero-Mile Vegetable Production
No full textThe integration of edible vegetable production in the household environment, combined with the use of kitchen wastewater for irrigation purposes, is a promising strategy to achieve quality food products, reduce water consumption and the amount of wastewater, improve environmental awareness and cut transportation costs. Domestic wastewater is often rich in nutrients. Thus, employing "urban agriculture" practices could enable the upcycling of nutrients treated through bio-filtration, taking advantage of autotrophic -heterotrophic consortia. The paper shows the main results of an interdisciplinary research project that aims to reuse dishwater wastewater to grow vegetables and/or ornamental plants for domestic use by an engineered biological filter integrated into a prototype developed in the definition of EcoDesign future application scenarios. In this way, reducing water and fertiliser consumption is possible while producing healthy and safe food on a zero-mile basis, in line with the Agenda 2030 targets of Sustainable Development Goals 2 and 6 (Zero Hunger and Clean Water and Sanitation)
Perspectives sur Focillon. Critique de: Annamaria Ducci, Henri Focillon en son temps. La liberté des formes, Presses universitaires de Strasbourg, collection “Historiographie de”, Strasbourg 2021
No full textInternational audienceThe author reviews the first monograph devoted to Henri Focillon (1881-1943), written by Annamaria Ducci. This intellectual biography, based on numerous archives and works, places the art historian in a wider historiographical context and gives an in-depth reading of several of his texts
Genetic evolution of canine coronavirus and recent advances in prophylaxis
No full textSince the first identification of the virus in 1971, the disease caused by canine
coronavirus (CCoV) has not been adequately investigated and the role that the virus plays in canine
enteric illness has still not been well established. In the last decade, as a consequence of the
relatively high mutation frequency of RNA positive stranded viruses, CCoV has evolved and a new
genotype has been identified in the faeces of infected dogs. The several studies carried out by
different researchers have focused upon the epidemiological relevance of these viruses and,
considering the wide diffusion of CCoV infections among dog populations, the author underlines
the need for further investigation on the biology of CCoV and on the pathogenetic role of their
infections
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