95 research outputs found
Uncertainty, shock and anger: Recent loss experiences of first-wave COVID-19 pandemic in Italy
No full textThe aim of this study is to explore qualitatively bereavement experiences of family members who have lost a significant other to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in relation to mourners' needs and resources. Twenty individuals bereaved by the first wave of COVID-19 from the most heavily impacted Italian region were interviewed via video call between 1 and 3 months after their loss. Through a thematic analysis, four main themes were identified: reconstructions of the loss experience, responses to grief, resources and looking forward. The suddenness of the death and lack of farewell by means of a funeral prevented participants from realizing the loss and undertaking a meaning-making process. When anger was the main reaction to the loss, mourners focussed all their attention on denouncing medical and government institutions. Acceptance occurred particularly in those who found a way to share their grief and use it as a turning point. Participants relied mainly on informal support offered virtually, but mourners may have sought out in-person comfort in the long term. The results of this study propose new insights for COVID-19 bereavement support and trace the path for health promotion within a community shook by a communal grief experience. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement
Analisi economica della biomassa secondo l’approccio del Life Cycle Costing
No full textLa trasformazione di un rifiuto in risorsa equivale, in termini economici, alla conversione di un costo in beneficio. L’impiego della biomassa nelle filiere produttive si muove proprio in questa direzione, dando enfasi alla crucialità e al ruolo che le fonti rinnovabili ricoprono nell’economia attuale. L’applicazione dell’approccio del ciclo di vita consente di monitorare in modo efficace ciascuna fase della catena del valore, incrementando così la performance del “sistema prodotto” tanto in termini ambientali quanto sotto il profilo economico. Nella presente ricerca si evidenzia come il Life Cycle Costing (LCC), correlato al Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ma da esso strutturalmente indipendente, consenta di identificare le inefficienze ambientali nelle diverse fasi del pathway, individuandone nel contempo le opportunità di profitto
Sustainability and the Life Cycle Management: the Soya Milk case study
No full textA company pursuing cost abatement through eco-efficient choices raises the environmental variable to a critical dimension, thus considering the environment an opportunity of profit and not a variable to be “suffered”. Therefore, applying the “life cycle thinking” concept that re-shapes companies’ entire structure in a “cradle to cradle” perspective helps improving the product performance along the whole pipeline. It is with reference to this context that the Life Cycle Management (LCM) of the 1 litre Valsoia Soyadrink Original has been implemented in this study, carrying out a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and using the results to reorganise the energy policy with reference to the UNI CEI EN 16001:2009 (now ISO 50001:2011) norm. This permits the enterprise to attain a better productive (eco)-efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the product during its entire life cycle
Pathogenic potential of bacteria isolated from commercial biostimulants
No full textMicrobial-based products are a promising alternative to agrochemicals in sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about their impact on human health even if some of them, i.e., Bacillus and Paenibacillus species, have been increasingly implicated in different human diseases. In this study, 18 bacteria were isolated from 2 commercial biostimulants, and they were genotypically and phenotypically characterized to highlight specific virulence properties. Some isolated bacteria were identified as belonging to the genus Bacillus by BLAST and RDP analyses, a genus in-depth studied for plant growth-promot- ing ability. Moreover, 16S rRNA phylogenetic analysis showed that seven isolates grouped with Bacillus species while two and four clustered, respectively, with Neobacillus and Peribacillus. Unusually, bacterial strains belonging to Franconibacter and Stenotrophomonas were isolated from biostimulants. Although Bacillus species are generally considered nonpathogenic, most of the species have shown to swim, swarm, and produced biofilms, that can be related to bacterial virulence. The evalu- ation of toxins encoding genes revealed that five isolates had the potential ability to produce the enterotoxin T. In conclusion, the pathogenic potential of microorganisms included in commercial products should be deeply verified, in our opinion. The approach proposed in this study could help in this crucial step
An agent-based model for the analysis of the energy sources diffusion dynamics
No full textAbstract. A novel model devoted to the characterization of the diffusion dynamics of three energy sources, traditional, bioenergy-like and solar-like, in a socio-economic energy system composed of general industries is presented. During the simulation each industry defines its strategy about the implementation of new technologies for the procurement of the energy needed to fullfil its internal activities. The research
focuses on two different socio-economic energy systems descriptions: the first description is characterized by industries operating only by means of economic assessments, while in the second case imitation phenomena are introduced so that industries define their strategies not only by cost-benefits analysis but observing the behavior of the neighborhood as well
Sustainability and the Life Cycle Management: the Soya Milk case study
No full textA company pursuing cost abatement through eco-efficient choices raises the environmental variable to a critical dimension, thus considering the environment an opportunity of profit and not a variable to be “suffered”. Therefore, applying the “life cycle thinking” concept that re-shapes companies’ entire structure in a “cradle to cradle” perspective helps improving the product performance along the whole pipeline. It is with reference to this context that the Life Cycle Management (LCM) of the 1 litre Valsoia Soyadrink Original has been implemented in this study, carrying out a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) and using the results to reorganise the energy policy with reference to the UNI CEI EN 16001:2009 (now ISO 50001:2011) norm. This permits the enterprise to attain a better productive (eco)-efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of the product during its entire life cycle
Ecologia di Hyalesthes obsoletus su Vitex agnus-castus
No full textIl legno nero della vite è un giallume della vite causato da ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma solani’, importante fattore limitante per la produzione vitivinicola in Europa. L'omottero Cixiide Hyalesthes obsoletus Signoret è il principale insetto vettore responsabile della diffusione del fitoplasma agente della malattia.
Le piante ospiti del vettore e serbatorio del fitoplasma sono principalmente Urtica dioica e Convolvulus arvensis in Europa centrale ed occidentale. In Israele il Ciixide completa il proprio ciclo vitale anche su Vitex agnus-castus, pianta che recentemente è stata ritrovata infetta da ‘Ca. P. solani’ nell’Est europa. Questo arbusto in Italia è diffuso nelle regioni centro-meridionali e nelle zone costiere.
Nel presente lavoro sono state studiate le interazioni tra V. agnus-castus e H. obsoletus mediante prove di sopravvivenza, attrattività ed ovideposizione. Le indagini hanno previsto il confronto di V. agnus-castus con U. dioica e V. vinifera.
Dai dati raccolti è emerso che gli adulti di H. obsoletus sono in grado di sopravvivere sulla verbenacea e su vite per una settimana nonostante il cambio repentino di alimentazione, essendo stati gli individui catturati su ortica subito dopo la loro emergenza. Dai risultati ottenuti dalle prove di attrattività l’agnocasto risulta significativamente preferito alla vite, sia dai maschi che dalle femmine. H. obsoletus è in grado di ovideporre e svernare come forma giovanile su agnocasto anche se in misura molto inferiore rispetto all’ortica.
In conclusione, i risultati acquisiti hanno permesso di ottenere maggiori informazioni relative all’ecologia di H. obsoletus su agnocasto; ulteriori indagini sono necessarie per determinare il ruolo della verbenacea nell'epidemiologia del Legno nero della vite
Agent-Based Model to Simulate Groundwater Remediation with Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron
No full textSoils, air and water have been deeply contaminated by anthropogenic activities continuously spread over time. One of the most dangerous pollutant in groundwater is represented by chlorinated organic solvents, which acts as a Dense Non Aquifer Phase Liquid (DNAPL) contaminant. Many laboratory experiments have shown that nZVI encapsulated into micelles could treat DNAPL pollution directly into the groundwater but very few in situ experimentations have been tested. Agent-Based Model (ABM) is a powerful tool to simulate and to gain better insights in complex systems. In this paper we present an ABM simulation of DNAPL contaminated groundwater remediation. The model simulates a dehalogenation process of Trichloroethylene (TCE) with the application of encapsulated nZVI, directly injected into the DNAPL contaminant source. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
The cluster index revisited: detection of mesolevel dynamical structures
No full textWe present an approach to detect mesolevel dynamical structures (MDSs), which are emerging patterns composed of elements that behave in a coherent way and loosely interact with the rest of the system. We extend the notion of cluster index to deal with discrete nonlinear dynamical systems and we propose a procedure to apply this measure to identify significant MDSs. We apply this method to several dynamical systems, both biological as well as artificial ones, and we show that it is possible to detect important functional relations among set of nodes that can not be detected by usual correlation-based approaches nor motifs analysis
The detection of intermediate-level emergent structures and patternsAdvances in Artificial Life, ECAL 2013
No full textArtificial life is largely concerned with systems that exhibit different emergent phenomena; yet, the identification of emergent structures is frequently a difficult challenge. In this paper we introduced a system to identify candidate emergent mesolevel dynamical structures in dynamical networks. This method is based on an extension of a measure introduced for detecting clusters in biological neural networks; its main novelty in comparison to previous application of similar measures is that we used it to consider truly dynamical networks, and not only fluctuations around stable asymptotic states. The identified structures are clusters of elements that behave in a coherent and coordinated way and that loosely interact with the remainder of the system. We have evidence that our approach is able to identify these "emerging things" in some artificial network models and in more complex data coming from catalytic reaction networks and biological gene regulatory systems (A.thaliana). We think that this system could suggest interesting new ways in dealing with artificial and biological systems
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