465 research outputs found
First report of two North American branchiobdellidans (Annelida: Clitellata) or crayfish worms on Signal crayfish in Europe with a discussion of similar introductions into Japan
No full textTwo species of North American branchiobdellidans, Cambarincola gracilis Robinson, 1954 and Cambarincola okadai Yamaguchi, 1933, have been reported in Europe for the first time. These branchiobdellidans together with Xirogoniton victoriensis Gelder and Hall, 1990 were found on signal crayfish, Pacifastacus leniusculus (Dana, 1852), collected from the Lot and Tarn River drainages in southern France. Specimens of X. victoriensis were also reported on the same host in the Mayenne River drainage in northeastern France. Brief morphological descriptions of the three alien branchiobdellidan species are given. These introductions are briefly discussed and compared with similar alien ectosymbiotic associations found in Japan
An Infrastructure's emissions assessment tool: AMICO - Account Method of Infrastructures embodied CarbOn
No full textIn 2013, the UK Infrastructure Carbon Review report highlighted how the infrastructure sector contributed to the national total emissions and, therefore, had a key role in contributing to the national reduction, adopting targeted strategies to reduce them. The main objective of AMICO's research project: "Account Method of Infrastructures embodied CarbOn", is the development of a tool for the analysis and parametric evaluation of carbon emissions (Embodied Carbon, EC) and energy resource requirements (Embodied Energy, EE) related to the design and construction of infrastructures (railway tunnels, bridges, highways ...) AMICO tool is designed to be used for tendering, contract start-up and construction of infrastructure by Webuild Group (Italian Joint Stock Company) as part of a research project funded by MIMIT - Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, with the scientific support of the Politecnico di Torino (Department of Architecture and Design).
AMICO aims to assess potential impacts in terms of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and potential primary energy resource needs over the infrastructure life cycle and at different design process stages, allowing designers and constructors to evaluate decarbonisation in their choices. AMICO is currently organised into two calculation models:
1. An Excel spreadsheet file, divided into worksheets containing algorithms for accounting of EC and EE, organised into two usage models: Basic, which will be used for tenders and the early design stage, and Advanced, which will be used in the detailed design or construction stage.
2. A code for the BIM environment that accounts for impacts (EE and EC) related to infrastructure systems (as defined by UNICLASS) combined and concurrently with design in the BIM environment (this section is not the focus of this paper).
An innovation aspect is sharing a database of environmental data about materials and processes (transportation, construction, demolition) directly related to the Bill of Quantity without using Life Cycle Assessment software. The database will be integrated into the Datalake to speed up and optimise infrastructure design and construction work. You can set the database to the location of the work. Through data digitisation, AMICO is designed to be as automated, easy to fill in, and intuitive as possible
Aerosol mediated localized dissolution to enhance the electrical behavior and sensitivity of piezoresistive nanofiber-based flexible sensors
No full textThis work proposes the use of solvents in the form of small size droplets to improve the connections among nanofibers (NFs) in electrospun composite nanofibers with carbon nanotube multiwalled (MWCNT) by improving the electrical and piezoresistive behavior of such electrically conductive polymer composites. The here proposed Aerosol Mediated Localized Dissolution (AMLD) process has been shown to be effective in improving the 3D microporous NF mat by inducing local dissolution that is effective in improving the connections among fibers within the mat. The AMLD process is demonstrated here for polyethylene oxide (PEO) / MWCNTs composite nanofibers, showing that the electrical conductivity is particularly improved in those samples with low content of MWCNTs, even below the original percolation threshold. The improved electrical conductivity is coupled with exceptional sensitivity of the flex sensor for low MWCNTs contents, this is particularly due to the ability of the AMLD process to preserve the high surface area of the 3D mat by inducing better fiber-to-fiber contacts in few regions only. In addition, this work demonstrates the effectiveness of applying an electrical potential difference during the AMLD process to improve the alignment of MWCNTs within the 3D microporous NF mat. The combination of voltage and AMLD allow to obtain a gauge factor as high as 571.9 with a MWCNTs loading of 1 wt%
Malattia nodulare branchiale, patologia emergente negli allevamenti italiani di trota iridea (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
No full textA partire dal 2012 è stato riscontrato un aumento della mortalità negli allevamenti trentini di trota
iridea (Oncorhynchus mykiss). I pesci colpiti manifestavano i sintomi tipici da malattia branchiale (opercoli
divaricati, ipermucosità ed anemia) con mortalità fino al 60% durante i mesi invernali. Allo scopo di studiarne
l’eziologia sono state eseguite analisi delle acque nelle vasche di alcune troticolture in Provincia di Trento seguite
da esami necroscopici, batteriologici, istologici e parassitologici di tessuto branchiale da pesci che presentavano
sintomatologia clinicamente evidente. Dalla valutazione dei parametri delle acque, effettuata tra febbraio e aprile
2014, non è emersa alcuna alterazione chimico-fisica significativa correlabile alla patologia. Gli esami
batteriologici delle branchie erano finalizzati alla ricerca di mixobatteri. Non sono stati riscontrati legami evidenti
tra microrganismi del genere Flavobacterium e malattia branchiale. All’istologia le branchie mostravano intensa
reazione proliferativa epiteliale con fusione delle lamelle e, nei casi più gravi, dei filamenti. Il quadro
sintomatologico era simile a quanto descritto nella “Amoebic gill disease” di salmoni allevati in acque marine
dell’Australia (Tasmania), America settentrionale (Canada e Stati Uniti), Europa (Irlanda, Francia, Spagna,
Scozia e Norvegia), America meridionale (Cile) ed Africa (Sudafrica) e nella “Nodular Gill Disease” di trote
iridee allevate in Europa settentrionale (Danimarca, Germania, Polonia e Repubblica Ceca) e Nord America
(Canada e Stati Uniti). All’esame istologico con colorazione di Giemsa sono stati individuati microrganismi
unicellulari appartenenti all’ordine delle amebe. L’esame parassitologico con semina di tessuto branchiale a
fresco ha permesso di rilevare numerose amebe in replicazione. Studi per la tipizzazione del parassita sono
tutt’ora in corso. La ricerca è proseguita fino ad aprile 2015, quantificando le lesioni istologiche e il grado di
infestazione del parassita. Da quanto esaminato fino ad ora risulta evidente una correlazione tra le lesioni
proliferative e il numero di amebe presenti nel tessuto branchiale
Analysis and assessment of the building life cycle. Indicators and tools for the early design stage
No full textConstruction is a crucial sector in terms of worldwide environmental impacts. Building material production along with transport and demolition are no exception, because in the last decades, they have constantly increased their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Actions and initiatives are therefore important to tackle the relationship between buildings and climate change. Particularly, it is necessary to develop Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) tools useful to calculate the environmental impact of buildings and to make them accessible to designers and stakeholders acting in the building sector. The article aims to contribute to the international debate about environmental assessment indicators for buildings and the simplified LCA based tools. The Embodied Energy (EE) and the Embodied Carbon (EC) have been investigated. The former, related to primary energy content; the latter, associated with the equivalent carbon dioxide emissions. EE and EC have been used as indicators for the development of a calculation tool named EURECA, for assessing the environmental impact of the building over its life cycle, as defined by the EN 15978:2011 standard. The Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean’s house designed and built by an international academic team has been an opportunity to check the indicators and the tool’s effectiveness
Considerazioni sullo stato di salute di alcune popolazioni indigene di gambero di fiume Austropotamobius pallipes complex in Italia.
No full textIl lavoro presentato sintetizza i dati ottenuti durante l’attività di ricerca triennale 2003-2005 effettuata per la stesura della relazione finale del progetto di ricerca coordinata “Strategie di ripopolamento di gamberi indigeni minacciati” dal sottotitolo “Allevamento di gamberi indigeni d’acqua dolce Austropotamobius pallipes ed Astacus astacus in risaie ed in ambienti controllati a fini di ripopolamento” per conto del Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali.
Durante la presentazione, viene illustrata una breve introduzione allo studio di A. pallipes complex e vengono messi in evidenza i punti chiave per la reintroduzione della specie in habitat idoneo.
Viene presentato l’iter procedurale utilizzato durante il periodo di ricerca effettuato, che ha previsto sia indagini di tipo diretto sui campioni di A. pallipes complex trattenuti da siti di campionamento, sia di tipo indiretto eseguite su diversi ecosistemi acquatici presi in esame; viene, ovviamente, anche chiarita ogni singola verifica realizzata e il modus operandi adottato.
Infine, sono esposti i risultati sanitari, elencati per tipologia, degli esemplari esaminati e successivamente anche le classi di qualità ambientale riscontrate, a seconda del parametro di valutazione utilizzato (I.B.E., I.F.F., B.S.I. e W.S.I.), nei diversi siti di raccolta, suddivisi in base all’ente territoriale.
La presentazione termina in primis con delle considerazioni sul binomio popolazioni di gamberi - qualità ambientale e su l’eventuale sua correlazione con la presenza di diverse varietà di Plecotteri, Efemerotteri e Tricotteri; in secundis, durante le conclusioni, si commenta il ruolo di bioindicatore di A. pallipes complex ed il fondamento da seguire durante ogni piano di ripopolamento della specie
Aerogels for energy and environmental applications
No full textAerogels are emerging as one of the most intriguing and promising groups of microporous materials, characterized by impressive properties such as low density, high surface area, high porosity and tunable surface chemistry. Fostering unique thermal and acoustic insulation features, for several decades they mainly received attention from the aerospace and building sectors. More recently, new great opportunities arose due to significant advances in the drying technologies that currently, represent the enabling step for aerogel synthesis and fabrication. This process-ability dramatically increased the interest toward aerogels from new disciplines.
This explains why in the last decade the Environmental Science and Energy fields significantly contributed to the expansion of the aerogel technology, suggesting novel uses and applications and contributing to extend the group of materials that can be synthetized by aerogel processing. New, unforeseen properties emerged for aerogel materials, such as adsorption of contaminants and fluids purification, catalysis of different reactions, electrical conductivity. The present short-review aims at providing a critical overview of the key advances in the development of aerogels for energy and environmental applications, especially emphasizing the common strategies and properties that are turning aerogels into one of the new key emerging technologies of these areas of science
An optimal experimental design framework for fast kinetic model identification based on artificial neural networks
No full textThe development of mathematical models to describe reaction kinetics is crucial in process design, control, and optimisation. However, distinguishing between different candidate kinetic models presents a non-trivial challenge. Recent works on this topic introduced an approach that employs artificial neural networks (ANNs) to identify kinetic models. In this paper, the ANNs-based model identification approach is expanded by introducing an optimal experimental design procedure. The performance of the method is evaluated through a case study
related to the identification of kinetics in a batch reaction system, where different combinations of experimental design variables and noise level on the measurements are compared to assess their impact on kinetic model identification. The proposed experimental design methodology effectively reduces the number of required experiments while enhancing the artificial neural network’s ability to accurately identify the appropriate set of equations defining the kinetic model structure
Optimal Design of Experiments Based on Artificial Neural Network Classifiers for Fast Kinetic Model Recognition
No full textDeveloping mathematical models for the description of reaction kinetics is fundamental for process design, control and optimisation. The problem of model discrimination among a set of candidate models is not trivial, and recently a new and complementary approach based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) for kinetic model recognition was proposed. This paper extends the ANNs-based model identification approach by defining an optimal design of experiment procedure, whose performance is assessed through a simulated case study. The proposed design of experiments method allows to reduce the number of experiments to be conducted while increasing the ability of the artificial neural network in recognising the proper kinetic model structure
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