3,146 research outputs found
Is scaling plasma technology for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances removal from leachate worthwhile: Life cycle assessment perspective
No full textLandfill leachate is a primary source of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in the environment. Non-thermal plasma (NTP) treatment has demonstrated promising results in terms of PFAS destruction; however, challenges related to scalability, cost, and environmental impact assessment persist. This study conducts a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to evaluate the environmental performance of NTP-based technology and its potential for scaling up, based on published laboratory-scale data. Furthermore, a comparison has been made between NTP technology and traditional evaporation and incineration for PFAS removal. Sofia Landfill's leachate treatment facility in Bulgaria served as a case study. The site's leachate treatment facility currently incorporates conventional mechanical and biological treatment processes, with a reverse osmosis (RO) system being planned as a future final step. Three alternatives were evaluated: 1) A1-RO1/P involves the application of plasma treatment to the RO concentrate; 2) A2-RO2/P includes a second-stage RO system with plasma treatment for its concentrate; and 3) A3-RO2/E comprises of a second-stage RO system with concentrate evaporation and off-site incineration of its sludge. The LCA has identified human toxicity potential, freshwater and marine ecotoxicity, freshwater eutrophication and global warming potential as the five key impact categories. The analysis indicates that Bulgaria's electricity mix was the primary impact contributor, followed by transportation. The plasma-based alternatives demonstrated superior performance over the evaporation-incineration alternative, with A2-RO2/P achieving the lowest normalized environmental impact. However, pilot experiments are needed to validate these conclusions. Moreover, the expansion of LCA databases is imperative to enhance the evaluation of PFAS's environmental implication
Direct replacement of antibodies with molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) nanoparticles in ELISA - development of a novel assay for vancomycin
No full textA simple and straightforward technique for coating microplate wells with molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) to develop ELISA type assays is presented here for the first time. NanoMIPs were synthesized by a solid phase approach with immobilized vancomycin (template) and characterized using Biacore 3000, dynamic light scattering and electron microscopy. Immobilization, blocking and washing conditions were optimized in microplate format. The detection of vancomycin was achieved in competitive binding experiments with a HRP-vancomycin conjugate. The assay was capable of measuring vancomycin in buffer and in blood plasma within the range 0.001-70 nM with a detection limit of 0.0025 nM (2.5 pM). The sensitivity of the assay was three orders of magnitude better than a previously described ELISA based on antibodies. In these experiments nanoMIPs have shown high affinity and minimal interference from blood plasma components. Immobilized nanoMIPs were stored for 1 month at room temperature without any detrimental effects to their binding properties. The high affinity of nanoMIPs and the lack of a requirement for cold chain logistics make them an attractive alternative to traditional antibodies used in ELIS
Coaching early career teachers in urban elementary schools: A mixed method study
No full textCoaching for urban early career teachers (ECTs) offers promise and aligns with features of effective professional development to support the implementation of evidence-based practices. However, the functional components and key elements of coaching and coach supervision are not well specified in the literature. The goal of the current study was to examine adherence and feasibility of a coaching intervention designed to provide urban ECTs with concentrated support in classroom management and engaging learners—two instructional domains that are robust predictors of attrition (Ingersoll and Strong in Rev Educ Res 81:201–233, 2011). Coaches (n = 6) worked with ECTs (n = 15) in three urban, high-poverty elementary schools during the 2-year intervention. A mixed-method design was employed, such that qualitative data (i.e., semi-structured interviews) and quantitative data (i.e., adherence measures) were collected concurrently, remained independent during analyses, and were integrated during interpretation (Creswell and Clark in Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2007). Findings revealed that ECTs generally received the intended frequency and duration of coaching but with fewer opportunities for post-conferences. Coach supervision, on average, was delivered with intended frequency, with variability across coaches. Thematic analyses highlighted coach provision of emotional and instrumental support, emphasized consistent coaching as critical, and that time was a significant barrier to ECT participation in coaching. Supervision promoted social support among coaches and provided opportunities to adapt the model to ECT needs.Peer reviewe
Communautés et écriture en ligne. Histoire, devenir, un dialogue
No full textIn this interview, Elisa Bricco talks to writer Benoît Vincent about
the transformations that have taken place over the last twenty years
as a result of the technological turn in literary production. We look
at the repercussions of technology’s hold over literary production, and
in particular at the development of the notion of author in the context
of collective writing. The example of the General Instin project will
be used to highlight some of the issues raised by digital technology in
relation to the production of literary texts.Dans cet entretien, Elisa Bricco discute avec l’écrivain Benoît Vincent
sur les transformations qui sont survenues dans les vingt dernières
années à cause du tournant technologique de la production littéraire. On
s’interroge sur les répercussions de l’emprise de la technologie sur le
faire littéraire et notamment sur le développement de la notion d’auteur
dans le contexte de l’écriture collective. L’exemple du projet Général
Instin servira pour mettre en lumières quelques enjeux du numérique
par rapport à la production de textes littéraires
Communautés et écriture en ligne. Histoire, devenir, un dialogue
No full textIn this interview, Elisa Bricco talks to writer Benoît Vincent about the transformations that have taken place over the last twenty years as a result of the technological turn in literary production. We look at the repercussions of technology’s hold over literary production, and in particular at the development of the notion of author in the context of collective writing. The example of the Général Instin project will be used to highlight some of the issues raised by digital technology in relation to the production of literary texts.Dans cet entretien, Elisa Bricco discute avec l’écrivain Benoît Vincent sur les transformations qui sont survenues dans les vingt dernières années à cause du tournant technologique de la production littéraire. On s’interroge sur les répercussions de l’emprise de la technologie sur le faire littéraire et notamment sur le développement de la notion d’auteur dans le contexte de l’écriture collective. L’exemple du projet Général Instin servira pour mettre en lumières quelques enjeux du numérique par rapport à la production de textes littéraires
Resource recovery strategies and schemes: A regional case study on sewage sludge hub centres in Italy
No full textThe establishment of regional sludge treatment hubs has been proposed as a solution to achieve the necessary economic scale for sustainable resource recovery and safe reuse in non-metropolitan areas. However, existing literature provides limited insights into their sustainability and effectiveness, and inadequate legal frameworks often hinder efficient sludge treatment, leading to improper disposal and increased risks. This article addresses these gaps by evaluating the environmental impact of a centralised sludge treatment system through a real case study, highlighting the importance of selecting sewage sludge with minimal risks for centralised resource recovery and safe reuse, in line with the recent review of the Sewage Sludge Directive. Building on the Horizon 2020 SMART-Plant innovation action, a regional sludge hub has been designed to treat and valorise the sewage sludge from 52 municipalities in Treviso, serving around 500,000 residents. In the first phase, the potential for resource recovery and safe reuse was assessed by evaluating the long-term chemical and physical characteristics of the sewage sludge, while considering the replicability of this model. In the second phase, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the environmental impact of various valorisation pathways, including composting, biogas production, phosphorus salts, and biopolymer (PHA) recovery. The final environmental impacts were normalised using the revised ReCiPe 2016 normalisation values. The results indicated that phosphorus and biopolymer recovery was the most sustainable scenario, reducing emissions by an amount equivalent to 176 individuals per day compared to the decentralised syste
Comment on Bandelli and Porcelli/1 - Against Moral Panic, in Defence of Data
No full textElisa Giomi’s commentary is an answer to Bandelli and Porcelli’s essay “Femicide in Italy. ‘Femminicidio,’ Moral Panic and Progressivist Discourse” [2016]. Although Giomi assumes that Bandelli and Porcelli effectively illustrate the instrumentalization of lethal violence against women in Italian political discourse, yet she criticizes their reading of the “femminicidio narrative” as a phenomenon of moral panic that locates the threat in the typical Italian heterosexual family/couple: all the available empirical findings confirm that these are precisely the contexts where lethal aggressions against women most frequently occur. The author also disagrees with the authors’ conclusion that the femminicidio narrative authorized “the application of a gender paradigm to the official reading of domestic/partner violence” in 2012/13 Italian public discourse. Finally, she contends that in their essay the “feminist discourse” is represented in a stereotypical way, one that is instrumental in depicting it as a hegemonic discourse
Applying a kinetic method to an indirect ELISA measuring Ostertagia ostertagi antibodies in milk
No full textIndirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) are frequently run as endpoint ELISAs (e-ELISAs). However, kinetic ELISAs (k-ELISAs) have certain advantages over e-ELISAs. The objective of this study was to understand the relationship between e-ELISA and k-ELISA results. Specifically, to determine whether it was possible to run both k-ELISA and e-ELISA on the same plate and establish an appropriate time interval for k-ELISA measurements. A normalization method for k-ELISA slopes (slope ratio) is proposed. Using an indirect e-ELISA test measuring antibodies against Ostertagia ostertagi in milk from dairy cattle, we found that running a k-ELISA had no effect on optical density ratio results of an e-ELISA on the same plate, and that agreement was very strong at 10, 15, and 28 min, allowing for a reduction in the total processing time for ELISA tests
Re-Designing Community Mental Health Services for Urban Children: Supporting Schooling to Promote Mental Health
No full textObjective: This study examined a school- and home-based mental health service model, Links to Learning, focused on empirical predictors of learning as primary goals for services in high-poverty urban communities. Method: Teacher key opinion leaders were identified through sociometric surveys and trained, with mental health providers and parent advocates, on evidence-based practices to enhance children’s learning. Teacher key opinion leaders and mental health providers cofacilitated professional development sessions for classroom teachers to disseminate 2 universal (Good Behavior Game, peer-assisted learning) and 2 targeted (Good News Notes, Daily Report Card) interventions. Group-based and home-based family education and support were delivered by mental health providers and parent advocates for children in kindergarten through 4th grade diagnosed with 1 or more disruptive behavior disorders. Services were Medicaid-funded through 4 social service agencies (N = 17 providers) in 7 schools (N = 136 teachers, 171 children) in a 2 (Links to Learning vs. services as usual) × 6 (pre- and posttests for 3 years) longitudinal design with random assignment of schools to conditions. Services as usual consisted of supported referral to a nearby social service agency. Results: Mixed effects regression models indicated significant positive effects of Links to Learning on mental health service use, classroom observations of academic engagement, teacher report of academic competence and social skills, and parent report of social skills. Nonsignificant between-groups effects were found on teacher and parent report of problem behaviors, daily hassles, and curriculum-based measures. Effects were strongest for young children, girls, and children with fewer symptoms. Conclusion: Community mental health services targeting empirical predictors of learning can improve school and home behavior for children living in high-poverty urban communitiesPeer reviewe
2024-2025: Distinguished Visiting Author, Elisa Gonzalez
No full textStudent Fellows: Benjamin Harvey, Abigail Lebowitz, Aelan Lee, May Mastrantonio, Ryan Robertsonhttps://docs.rwu.edu/bermont-fellowship/1011/thumbnail.jp
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