1,721,016 research outputs found
Innovative and sustainable strategies of urban mining
Full text linkLa gestione di un’enorme quantità di rifiuti da apparecchiature elettriche ed elettroniche (RAEE), rappresenta un problema rilevante per la nostra società, poichè rischi per l’ambiente e la salute umana, legati ad una scorretta gestione, sono combinati con la perdita di materiali valorizzabili. Questo lavoro ha per oggetto lo sviluppo di processi sostenibili per il recupero di metalli di valore dai RAEE: in particolare, è stata effettuata un’indagine in laboratorio mirata all’estrazione, da schermi a cristalli liquidi, di indio, un metallo recentemente classificato dalla Commissione Europea tra i “critical raw materials”. La sperimentazione ha permesso l’ottimizzazione di un processo con rese di recupero di indio superiori al 90%, basato su operazioni idrometallurgiche. E’ stato studiato inoltre il processo dal punto di vista della sua sostenibilità ambientale, confrontandone l’impatto con quello degli attuali sistemi di gestione degli schermi a cristalli liquidi . La valutazione ha evidenziato che il ciclo di gestione delle acque di processo e pre-trattamenti fisici del pannello finalizzati alla concentrazione del metallo, rappresentano dei fattori chiave per la sostenibilità ambientale del processo. Il lavoro è stato svolto nel contesto di un progetto finanziato dalla Commissione Europea nell’ambito del 7FP, denominato HydroWEEE. Tale progetto aveva per obiettivo la realizzazione di un impianto mobile, con caratteristiche flessibili per il recupero di metalli da diversi RAEE: indio da TV/monitor a cristalli liquidi, ittrio da lampade e tubi catodici, rame oro e argento da circuiti stampati, cobalto da batterie litio-ione. L’attività di ricerca è stata anche finalizzata a valutare la sostenibilità ambientale dei vari processi realizzati nell’impianto mobile, evidenziandone un generale vantaggio (tra il 20 e l’80%) rispetto alla produzione primaria dei metalli. La valutazione dei rischi per i lavoratori nell’impianto mobile conclude lo studio
Marine materials as innovative metal sorbents suitable for applications in wastewater treatments
Full text linkThe growing interest for urban mining strategies has pushed the research towards innovative strategies for metal recovery from electronic waste. Nevertheless, the treatment of the resulting metal-rich wastewater is still an issue. In this context, the present paper shows a method to use the capacity of Ulva algae to adsorb metals for the treatment of a synthetic solutions which simulates that resulting from a printed circuit board recycling process. The experiments considered a copper-zinc-iron system, showing a copper adsorption capacity of biomaterial up to 65 mg/g, at pH 5, favoured by iron presence. The process needs a short time (around 15 min) and it is suitable to be performed in a fixed-bed column able to treat more than 30 L of copper-contaminated wastewater, decreasing the energetic costs for mixing (compared to the typical slurry-reactor configuration) with an almost completed metal removal. The sustainability of the process is further improved by the selection of a macroalga which often accumulates on beaches (becoming a waste to remove) complying with the circular economy pillars
Environmental sustainability assessment of different strategies for the treatment of wastewater from textile industry
Full text linkSevere water consumption and highly polluted wastewater are the main issues of textile industries, which can affect environmental safety. Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) emerged as innovative strategies to enhance conventional wastewater treatments, for their strong ability to reduce chemical oxygen demand (COD) and pollutants. Among these, hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) stands out as a promising technique to minimize the chemical additive uses, thereby improving the process sustainability. A life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to compare four scenarios, traditional biological treatment, membrane treatment combined with AOP and HC used either as pre- or post-treatment to the biological process. The results showed that biological process followed by HC offers the lowest environmental impact. This is attributed to a configuration change (compared to HC as pre-treatment) that reduces energy consumption without compromising water quality. In the climate change category, one of the most relevant, HC as a post-treatment (scenario 4) reduces the impact by 94%, compared to HC pre-treatment (scenario 3). It also achieves around 30% impact reduction relative to biological treatment, while ensuring the highest water quality, with a 98% reduction in COD. This quality supports the potential for water recirculation within textile manufacturing. Furthermore, the possibility of water reuse offsets the environmental cost of producing high-quality water, with an average environmental credit between 440 (scenario 3) and 600 (scenario 1) m3-world eq, in the water use category. The superiority of the HC post-treatment setup was also confirmed from a performance standpoint, as it reduces the complexity of process management
Food literacy and food choice – a survey-based psychometric profiling of consumer behaviour
Full text linkPurpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the associations between food literacy, consumer profiling and purchasing behaviour in a sample of Italian consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants (N = 194) completed an online survey including personal data, two questionnaires on purchase behaviour and food consumption, the General Trust Scale (GTS), a questionnaire assessing individual chronotype and two scales about food literacy: one investigating nutritional knowledge (short food literacy questionnaire, SFLQ) and the other focussing on procedural skills (self-perceived food literacy scale, SPFL). Associations between food literacy, consumer profiling and purchase behaviour were analysed with linear regression models.
Findings
Participants with specific education in nutrition reported higher scores in food literacy. The final score of food literacy was predicted by a greater attention to nutritional content and nutritional properties of products. Women paid more attention to nutritional properties than men, and they obtained higher scores in SFLQ. Evening types obtained lower scores in SFPL compared to intermediate and morning chronotypes. Body mass index (BMI) was negatively correlated to SPFL score, while it was associated with the easy availability of a product, so that obese (BMI ≥ 30) subjects considered the easy availability of a product more important compared to non-obese ones (BMI < 30).
Originality/value
This study investigates the influence of personal and psychometric variables of consumer profiling on food literacy and consequently on purchase behaviour, paving the way for implementing healthier food consumption policies. These findings reinforce the primacy of specific education in building healthy eating habits
Urban biomining: new challenges for a successful exploitation of WEEE by means of a biotechnological approach
No full textEmission from realistic utilization of wood pellet stove
No full textThe Italian market of wood pellet and stoves is increasing quickly as, at the same time, the concerns about the particulate matter (PM) and gas emission products. Therefore, the assessment of their environmental impact is becoming an important issue. However, the emission factor from pellet stove measured according to technical standards does not provide representative data with respect to a real domestic utilization. This difference is a consequence of different operation and combustion conditions as well as the exclusion of unsteady state phases (e.g. ignition phase) from the standard measurement. In this study combustion tests were carried out simulating domestic utilization conditions of a pellet stove and a sampling methodology more representative of the real environmental impact of these devices.
Higher concentration of PM, up to 72% more than those measured in steady state condition, was shown. A higher emission factor has been observed also for carbon monoxide (CO), total carbon (TC) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) especially during unsteady combustion phases (e.g. ignition phase) which significantly affect the emission factor in particular when the pellet stove works for short time (less than 2 h)
Life cycle assessment and circularity evaluation of a PV panel integrated with phase change material
No full textLongitudinal, multidimensional, observational study of 15 patients with CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder
No full textBackground: CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD) is a rare developmental and epileptic encephalopathy characterized by dominant X-linked inheritance and early infantile onset. To date, more than 300 pathogenic variants of the CDKL5 gene have been reported with different phenotypes. As a rare genetic disease, data on CDD are still limited, making the diagnostic and therapeutic process very challenging. The objective of our study was to provide a comprehensive overview of CDD, including those aspects of the disease for which there is unfortunately still limited knowledge. Materials and methods: The presence of a CDKL5 variant, cognitive impairment/delayed psychomotor development, and onset of epilepsy within the first year of life were screened for the diagnosis. Comprehensive clinical assessment, laboratory and radiological investigations were performed. Results: Fifteen (n=15) patients were enrolled in the study. In most cases, concordance was found between our data and those already present in the literature. In contrast, some other features, including the development of macrocephaly and the presence of congenital gastrointestinal malformations and spinal cord abnormalities, differ from previous findings. Conclusions: Our study provides an overview on CDD, including those features for which we still have limited knowledge and, albeit on a limited sample, several insights on this rare condition
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