1,721,140 research outputs found
Health risk assessment of air emissions from a municipal solid waste incineration plant – a case study
No full textA health risk assessment of long-term emissions of carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic air pollutants has been carried out for the municipal solid waste incinerator (MSWI) of the city of Taranto, Italy. Ground level air concentrations and soil deposition of carcinogenic (Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-Dioxins/Furans and Cd) and non-carcinogenic (Pb and Hg) pollutants have been estimated using a well documented atmospheric dispersion model. Health risk values for air inhalation, dermal contact, soil and food ingestion have been calculated based on a combination of these concentrations and a matrix of environmental exposure factors. Exposure of the surrounding population has been addressed for different release scenarios based on four pollutants, four exposure pathways and two receptor groups (children and adults). Spatial risk distribution and cancer excess cases projected from plant emissions have been compared with background mortality records. Estimated results based on the MSWI emissions show: (1) individual risks well below maximum acceptable levels, (2) very small incremental cancer risk compared with background level
Caratterizzazione del residuo in presenza di elevate percentuali di raccolta differenziata di RSU
No full textMechanochemical activation of coal fly ash for production of high strength cement conglomerates
No full textIn this work the experimental results of the investigation carried out on the use of micronized fly ash
as pozzolanic material for production of cement mortars are presented. The milling of fly ash was carried
out in planetary ball mill; the size distribution of micronized material was similar to silica fume, normally
used to produce high strength conglomerates due to its very high specific surface. Micronized material was
also beneficiated reducing the unburned fraction by means of triboelectrostatic separation. The mechanical
strength tests of mortars were performed through the substitution of cement or sand (between 10 and
25 % in mass) with Micronized Fly Ash (MFA), Beneficiated Micronized Fly Ash (BMFA) and Silica Fume
(SF), respectively. The water/cement ratio (w/c) was regulated to obtain equal workability of the mixtures
(from 0.35 to 0.4). The best value of compression strength at 28 days (more than 100 MPa) is obtained with
BMFA (in substitution of sand): this value is 34 and 10 % higher than reference mortar with Ordinary
Portland Cement (OPC) and mortar with SF, respectively. On the basis of these results a chemico-physico-
mechanical improvement of the fly ash was achieved making reutilisation of this by-product in high strength
cement conglomerates feasible
Comparison of field inspections and dispersion modelling as a tool to estimate odour emission rates from landfill surfaces
Full text linkThis study has the final purpose to estimate the odour impact of a landfill located in Southern Italy, in the region of Puglia, by means of a field inspection that involves the direct assessment of odours in the field by trained assessors, which was carried out following the "plume method" described in the EN 16841:2016, Part 2. The primary aim of this work is to compare different methods for the estimation of Odour Emission Rates from the landfill surface in order to evaluate the method that allows to maximize the correspondence between the simulated odour impact and the outcomes of the direct assessment by field investigations. The motivation of this combined activity relies in the necessity to experimentally verify the hypotheses proposed in recent research work, which highlight the different mechanism determining odour emissions from landfill surfaces compared to the typical volatilization mechanism from passive area source, i.e. natural convection. As a consequence of this different volatilization mechanism, in the case of landfill surfaces, the recalculation of the OER as a function of the wind speed as it is done for other passive area sources may result in significant overestimation of odour impact. This study shows how the correspondence between direct field odour assessments and simulated odour impact is maximized by considering a constant SOER (Specific Odour Emission Rate) in the range of 0.07-0.25 ouE/m2/s. On the other hand, a variable SOER proportional to the square root of the wind speed results in an overestimation of about one order of magnitude of the landfill odour impact. This in turn proves the need to treat landfill surfaces as a particular type of source, requiring specific techniques for the estimation of odour emissions, which must account for the peculiarity of the mechanisms that affect landfill gas emissions into the atmosphere
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Immobilization of heavy metals in contaminated sediments by mechanochemical treatment
No full textIn order to reduce leaching of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, Zn), marine sediments dredged in the industrial harbour of Taranto (I) were submitted to an innovative treatment based on mechano-chemistry (MC) with addition of a natural zeolite (phillipsite). The experimental results of tests carried out at laboratory scale showed that metal leachability can be prevented almost completely when the sediments undergo the proposed treatment in proper operating conditions
Site Specific Health Risk Assessment – A Case Study For Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils
No full textThe results of an innovative risk assessment procedure for a hydrocarbon contaminated site are presented and discussed. The study was carried out for a dismissed oil refinery area, considering clean-up workers as the unique receptors exposed to the contaminated media and selecting for the analysis 5 carcinogenic and 2 not-carcinogenic chemicals, after having applied the concentration toxicity screen. The first part of the paper is focused on constructing empirical probability density functions for the Exposure Point Concentration (EPC) by using recent site-specific procedures. Probabilistic Risk Assessment was performed with a Monte Carlo algorithm using the calculated empirical distribution for EPC and distributions suggested in the recent literature for other exposure parameters. The cumulative distribution for Cancer Risk and Hazard Index for all contaminants of concern and all exposure pathways defined during site characterization were thus determined. In order to assess the influence of uncertainty and spatial variability in risk analysis, the study was also carried out in the deterministic framework and the input point values for the EPC were chosen as 95% percentiles of empirical distributions calculated according to the different methods presented here. Considering spatial contamination patterns leads to more correct risk estimates and, in some cases, this would result in avoiding unnecessary cleanup. Keywords: health risk assessment, exposure point concentration, contaminated soils
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