18 research outputs found
Oncology practitioners' perspectives and practice patterns of post-treatment cancer survivorship care in the Asia-Pacific region: Results from the STEP study
Get PDFBackground: Most efforts to advance cancer survivorship care have occurred in Western countries. There has been limited research towards gaining a comprehensive understanding of survivorship care provision in the Asia-Pacific region. This study aimed to establish the perceptions of responsibility, confidence, and frequency of survivorship care practices of oncology practitioners and examine their perspectives on factors that impede quality survivorship care. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of hospital-based oncology practitioners in 10 Asia-Pacific countries was undertaken between May 2015-October 2016. The participating countries included Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, India, Myanmar, and The Philippines. The survey was administered using paper-based or online questionnaires via specialist cancer care settings, educational meetings, and professional organisations. Results: In total, 1501 oncology practitioners participated in the study. When comparing the subscales of responsibility perception, frequency and confidence, Australian practitioners had significantly higher ratings than practitioners in Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, and Singapore (all p < 0.05). Surprisingly, practitioners working in Low- and Mid- Income Countries (LMICs) had higher levels of responsibility perception, confidence and frequencies of delivering survivorship care than those working in High-Income Countries (HICs) (p < 0.001), except for the responsibility perception of care coordination where no difference in scores was observed (p = 0.83). Physicians were more confident in delivering most of the survivorship care interventions compared to nurses and allied-health professionals. Perceived barriers to survivorship care were similar across the HICs and LMICs, with the most highly rated items for all practitioners being lack of time, dedicated educational resources for patients and family members, and evidence-based practice guidelines informing survivorship care. Conclusions: Different survivorship practices have been observed between HICs and LMICs, Australia and other countries and between the professional disciplines. Future service planning and research efforts should take these findings into account and overcome barriers identified in this study
Life cycle assessment of electric and methane fueled urban buses
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALELa tesi esamina gli impatti ambientali di due autobus urbani, uno alimentato a biometano compresso e uno full-electric che sfrutta l’energia solare. L’obiettivo è quello di eseguire un confronto tra le loro performance ambientali. Questo è stato possibile grazie ad una analisi del ciclo vita dei die prodotti (Life Cycle Analysis) che permette di considerare tutte le emissioni di ogni prodotto in un approccio globale e completo. I risultati delle analisi sono uno studio iniziale per una eventuale analisi più approfondita dei due prodotti. Lo studio è stato sviluppato nell’ambito del progetto NeobusITA nel quale l’autrice ha collaborato attivamente fornendo al Governo Nazionale importanti informazioni riguardo l’esistenza di una filera per la produzione degli autobus in Italia.The following thesis examines the environmental impacts of two types of urban buses, a biomethane propelled Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bus and a fully electric bus that uses solar power. The objective is to compare how they perform environmentally. This is done by means of a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) which allows to account for the cradle-to-grave emissions of each product in a more global and comprehensive way. The analysis results in an initial study for a more in depth and accurate evaluation and comparison of the two different products. This study has been developed within the NeobusIta project in which the author has collaborated actively providing to the Italian National Government important information on the existence of a supply chain focused on urban bus production
The geology of Svalbard
No full textThe Svalbard archipelago and its principal island, Spitsbergen, respectively about the size of Scotland and Switzerland, have a wealth in variety and complexity in stratigraphy and structure no less than those classic areas. Moreover, with an international history and present treaty status many nations have participated in research, and the geological literature currently comprising far more than 3000 publications is widely scattered and rapidly increasing. There are indeed excellent published geological outlines, but no comprehensive work.
This work presents the detailed geology of Svalbard. It arises from about 50 years of research in many aspects of Svalbard geology by the author with many colleagues and collaborato~ It is arranged systematically as a definitive study reflecting the present conjuncture of research. It thus meets the needs of specialists with convenient information on related fields or of any geoscientist surveying some aspect of global geology for an indication of what is known about this key region.
This work is planned as an integrated synthesi~ Part I is introductory, setting the stage. Chapter 3 in particular outlines the main geological features and the principal geological conventions used throughout. Part 2 divides Svalbard into eight regions/sectors and each chapter describes these with minimal interpretation. The rock successions are listed from the top down as observed, and the structures are outlined and to some extent illustrated. Part 3, in forward time sequence, interprets historical events and environments. Part 4 comprises a summary of the economic aspects of Svaibard geology and three alphabetical lists as reference aids namely place names, stratigraphic names and general index. There is also an extensive reference list, which will be a significant bibliographic resource for researchers of Svalbard geology
The geology of Svalbard
No full textThe Svalbard archipelago and its principal island, Spitsbergen, respectively about the size of Scotland and Switzerland, have a wealth in variety and complexity in stratigraphy and structure no less than those classic areas. Moreover, with an international history and present treaty status many nations have participated in research, and the geological literature currently comprising far more than 3000 publications is widely scattered and rapidly increasing. There are indeed excellent published geological outlines, but no comprehensive work.\ud
\ud
This work presents the detailed geology of Svalbard. It arises from about 50 years of research in many aspects of Svalbard geology by the author with many colleagues and collaborato~ It is arranged systematically as a definitive study reflecting the present conjuncture of research. It thus meets the needs of specialists with convenient information on related fields or of any geoscientist surveying some aspect of global geology for an indication of what is known about this key region.\ud
\ud
This work is planned as an integrated synthesi~ Part I is introductory, setting the stage. Chapter 3 in particular outlines the main geological features and the principal geological conventions used throughout. Part 2 divides Svalbard into eight regions/sectors and each chapter describes these with minimal interpretation. The rock successions are listed from the top down as observed, and the structures are outlined and to some extent illustrated. Part 3, in forward time sequence, interprets historical events and environments. Part 4 comprises a summary of the economic aspects of Svaibard geology and three alphabetical lists as reference aids namely place names, stratigraphic names and general index. There is also an extensive reference list, which will be a significant bibliographic resource for researchers of Svalbard geology
Circular economy against food waste. The case study of Chinese restaurants in Milan
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALEInsieme allo sviluppo della globalizzazione,
le questioni globali stanno aumentando e
peggiorando. L'Organizzazione delle Nazioni
Unite (UN) nel ruolo della organizzazione
globale universale che supera i confini nazionali
ha annunciato gli "Obiettivi di Sviluppo
Sostenibile (SDGs)" che mirano a risolvere i
problemi globali.
Secondo la ricerca di Johan e Pavan, gli
Obiettivi di Sviluppo Sostenibile (SDGs) sono
direttamente o indirettamente relativi agli
alimenti sostenibili e sani. Si può dire che
la risoluzione del problema degli sprechi
alimentari è al centro degli Obiettivi di sviluppo
sostenibile (SDGs).
Diverse organizzazioni definiscono lo spreco
alimentare in diversi modi. Il problema degli
sprechi alimentari succede lungo tutta la
filiera agro-alimentare. Si succede sia negli
processi "upstream" (produzione, post-raccolta,
conservazione) sia negli processi "downstream"
trasformazione alimentare, distribuzione,
trasporto e consumo). I problemi degli sprechi
alimentari provocano anche gli impatti
economici, ambientali e sociali.
Col'andamento nel tempo e il progresso della
società, l'economia circolare come la rivoluzione
dall'economia lineare tradizionale, assume
un ruolo importante. È anche considerata
come "economia del riciclo delle risorse”. Oggi
le teorie dell'economia circolare si stanno
trasformando in pratiche in tutto il mondo, in
Europa, in Italia e specialmente a Milano.
A causa del miglioramento del livello di
vita dei cittadini, mangiare fuori diventa un
abitudine normale e popolari per sempre più
persone. Intanto che il numero di ristoranti è in
aumento,il problema dello spreco alimentare
dei ristoranti diventa sempre più grave e anche
urgente da risolvere.Sulla base del contesto dell'economia circolare,
anche il settore della ristorazione deve
effettuare una trasformazione positiva per
combattere i problemi di spreco alimentare. Ci
sono alcuni ristoranti pionieristici che possono
essere considerati i "ristoranti circolari", in
particolare nel Nord Europa, che operano
con l'idea centrale di zero waste. Ci sono
anche molti grandi esempi di progettazione
di product-service system design che con le
loro nuove tendenze e tecnologie che aiutano
i ristoranti a combattere il problema di sprechi
alimentari.
In questa tesi, l'autore tratta ristoranti cinesi
a Milano come ruolo chiave della ricerca sul
campo. Partendo dai ristoranti cinesi, l'autore
cerca di capire il workflow all'interno dei
ristoranti cinesi, l'attuale sistema di gestione
dei rifiuti alimentari al di fuori dei ristoranti
cinesi, le relazioni e le operazioni tra i diversi
stakeholder eccetera. Ad esempio, l'autore
cerca di scoprire come viene generato lo
spreco di cibo nei ristoranti, che tipo di sprechi
alimentari viene generato in proccessi diversi,
perché viene generato, quanto viene generata,
come i rifiuti organci viene trattati, in che modo
le diverse stakeholder hanno collaborato e
influenzato la gestione dei rifiuti alimentari dei
ristoranti, eccetera.
Attraverso l'analisi della ricerca sul campo,
l'autore identifica i problemi ed esplora
potenziali opportunità. Alla fine, l'autore
intende realizzare un service design innovativo
come il progetto finale. Il servizio sarà relativa
alla gestione dei rifiuti alimentari dagli ristoranti
cinesi aiutandoli a ridurre gli sprechi alimentari.Along with the development of globalization,
global issues are increasing and getting
worse. The United Nations as the universal
global organization that strides the national
boundaries has released the "Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs)" that aims at solving
global issues.
According to Johan and Pavan's research, the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are
directly or indirectly related to sustainable and
healthy foods. It can be said that solving the
problem of food waste is at the heart of the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Different organizations define food waste in
different ways. The problem of food waste
occurs along the food system supply chain.
It happens in both “upstream” processes
(production, post-harvest, storage) and
“downstream” processes (processing,
distribution, transportation, and consumption).
It causes also economic, environmental and
social impacts.
With Time's development and society's
progress, the circular economy as the revolution
from the traditional linear economy, it takes
an important role. It is also considered as the
“resource recycling economy”. Nowadays,
the theories of the circular economy have
been turning into practices all over the world,
Europe, Italy and especially in Milan.
As living standard improves, dining out becomes
regular and popular for more and more people.
While the number of restaurants is increasing,
the problem of food waste from restaurants is
becoming more serious and urgent to solve.
Based on the background of the circular
economy, the sector of restaurants needs to
carry out a positive transformation to fight
against the problems of food waste. Some pioneering restaurants that can be considered
as the "circular restaurants", especially in
Northern Europe that operate with the core
idea of zero waste. There are also many great
examples of product-service system design with
the new trends and technologies that help the
restaurants to fight against food waste.
In this thesis, the author treats Chinese
restaurants in Milan as a key role in field
research. Starting from Chinese restaurants,
the author tries to understand the workflow
within Chinese restaurants, the current food
waste management system outside Chinese
restaurants, the relationships and operations
between different stakeholders, etc. For
example, the author tries to find out how food
waste is generated in restaurants, what type of
food waste is generated in different processes,
why it is generated, how much it is generated,
how organic waste is treated, how the different
stakeholders collaborated and influenced the
management of food waste in restaurants, etc.
Through analysis of the field research, the
author identifies the problems and exploring
potential opportunities. In the end, the author
intends to carry out an innovative service
design related to food waste management to
help Chinese restaurants reduce food waste as
the final project of the thesis
Peptide-based foldamers: new photo-controlled devices towards opto-electronic and mechanical applications
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An ECD investigation aiming at assessing the critical main-chain length for peptide helix formation in water solution is reported. To this goal, it was synthesized by a solution step-by-step protocol a complete series of N-terminally acetylated, C-terminally methoxylated oligopeptides, characterized only by alternating Aib and Ala residues, from the di- to the nonamer stage. All of these compounds were investigated by ECD in the far-UV region in water solution as a function of chemical structure, the presence/absence of the ester moiety at the C-terminus and temperature. The critical main-chain lengths for 310- and α-helices, although still formed to a partial extent, in aqueous solution are six and eight residues, respectively.
II
A whole series of AuNps was synthesized from mercaptopropionic derivatives of alternating Aib/Ala peptide series. Our studies established the occurrence of chiroptical properties in peptide-coated 2 nm diameter gold nanoparticles. The peptides induce a chiral effect onto the plasmon resonance band detectable via ECD. Such a behavior appears to be strongly influenced by the secondary structure assumed by the coating peptides.
III
The water solubility displayed by alternating Aib/Ala peptide series was investigated. The evidences of the formation of self-assembled structures in water, likewise responsible for the unexpected solubility properties, are presented. These peptide aggregates are spherical, with diameters up to 100 nm. They can also incorporate other molecular structures of relevant size, such as Au nanoparticles. Such systems may widen the number of applications currently accessible to self-assembled aggregates in the fields of biomedicine and materials science.
IV
Two new Ca-tetrasubstituted a-amino acids bearing two identical azobenzene-derived side chains have been synthesized. Photo-reversible isomerization process was detected. Intermediate chiral species are generated during the isomerization process driven by iii
light. Diastereomers where generated when a chiral protein amino acid was inserted.
The conjugation of one of the bis(azobenzene)-derived amino acids with different metal
nanoparticles allowed the isomerization process to be detected even in solid state.
Furthermore, the Au-derived nanoparticles exhibit a magnetic susceptibility dependence
on the light-driven isomerization state that can be simply detected by 1H-NMR
spectroscopy. Based on this behavior, these amino acids are of relevant potential for the
development of a novel class of materials.
V
A series of Ferrocene and Pyrene labelled helical peptides containing one or more 4-
amino-1,2-dithiolane-4-carboxylic acid (Adt) residues have been synthetized. Such
peptides have been prepared to be employed in the formation of SAMs over gold
surfaces (by means of linkage with the dithiolane Adt side chains) for electrochemical
applications. In particular, the peptides have been designed for ensuring: (i) an highrigidity
of the peptide scaffold and (ii) a parallel disposition of the peptide axle respect
the metal surface. Conformational characterizations and CV tests on a Ferrocene
binding 6-mer are presented. Preliminary experiment on the photo-current generation
property has also been performed
Creazione di un simulatore parametrico per la generazione di modelli orientati alla digitalizzazione informativa, sviluppo e gestione dei processi immobiliari
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALENell’ambito di un progetto di simulazione parametrica residenziale, il team ha il proposito di creare uno strumento che possa aiutare un promotore immobiliare nelle prime fasi di sviluppo del bene stesso.
L’intento è stato quello di riuscire a raccogliere informazioni tecnologiche, strutturali, di costo, dimensionali e di programmazione temporale che, organizzate in un database e gestite opportunamente, potessero permettere la creazione di un simulatore digitale di design optioneering per le prime fasi dello sviluppo immobiliare.
La presente tesi si propone come parte complementare di un progetto più ampio, per il quale si è collaborato fin dalle prime battute e che ha portato ad una prima trattazione di laurea, più improntata su temi spaziali, sulla base di cui si sono operate implementazioni dal punto di vista tecnologico, strutturale, computazionale e di programmazione temporale. Il filo conduttore di tutto l’iter progettuale si basa sulla compresenza, nel mercato residenziale, di due elementi contrapposti: l’insussistenza di marginalità e la volontà da parte del cliente di avere un prodotto unico e personalizzato.
Nel corso della trattazione si potrà capire l’organizzazione informativa adottata ed apprendere le procedure che permettono al modello digitale, di comporre spazialmente e assegnare caratteristiche e proprietà agli elementi costituenti il manufatto edilizio, fino all’estrapolazione di informazioni utili per lo sviluppatore.
Il simulatore risultante, denominato “Modello 1”, oltre al vantaggio di essere strumento di indagine utile allo studio di fattibilità dell’intervento in termini di costo, tempo e qualità, restituisce un modello digitale che, grazie alla cospicua mole di informazioni ed al loro efficiente controllo, si propone come il primo passo di un progetto che va dall’idea di concezione del bene stesso alla sua messa in opera e successiva manutenzione.
Si presenterà infine un caso studio in cui, a partire dalle informazioni disponibili in tema urbanistico, spaziale e tecnologico, si è applicato “Modello 1”, al fine di analizzare i dati di output, confrontandoli con i progetti reali, per evidenziarne punti di forza e di debolezza.In the scope of a residential parametric simulation project, the team has the purpose to create a support instrument for a real estate promoter in the early phases of a project development.
The scope of work is to collect technological, structural, cost, dimensional and time planning information, organizing it in a database, in order to create a digital simulator for the design optioneering in the early phases of a real estate development.
The current thesis is a complementary part of a wider project, in which we were involved since the first stages and that led to a first degree thesis, more focused on spatial themes. Basing on this, the instrument had been implemented regarding technological, structural, computational, and planning concepts. The leading theme among all the project is linked to the co-presence within the residential market of two opposing elements: on the one hand the lack of marginality, on the other, the willingness of the customer to have a singular and customized product.
Along the thesis you can understand the information managing and learn the procedures that lead the digital model to compose the spaces and give to any element of the building organism his proprieties, until the output of the information useful to the developer for the decisional analysis.
The simulator, named “Modello 1 “, in addition to the advantage to be an investigation instrument for the feasibility study, in terms of costs, spaces, duration and quality, produces a digital model that, thanks to the wideness of data and the efficient control of it, can be considered the first step of a project process, since the idea conception until the effective realisation and successive maintenance.
At the end, a study case will be presented, in which, starting from real project information, we applied “Modello 1”, with the purpose to analyse the output data, also comparing it with the real case study and then highlighting strengths and weaknesses of the simulator
Construction 4.0. A comprehensive theoretical and experimental study on automation and robotics for the construction industry
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALEL'industria delle costruzioni è una delle forze trainanti dell'economia europea. Rispetto all’industria manifatturiera, il settore delle costruzioni è stato tradizionalmente caratterizzato dalla grande diversità di stakeholders e processi, oltre ad un’elevata resistenza al cambiamento e una ridotta integrazione tecnologica.
Nell’industria delle costruzioni, la maggior parte dei processi di fabbricazione sono tradizionalmente manuali o artigianali, organizzati con semplici strumenti di gestione e con un basso livello di integrazione tecnologica. Questa mancanza di automazione determina una produttività molto più bassa rispetto ad altri settori.
Durante l’ultimo decennio, industrie come quella automobilistica e aeronautica hanno adottato un nuovo paradigma chiamato "industria 4.0", che mira a migliorare i processi di produzione attraverso l'automazione, il monitoraggio, la sensorizzazione e l’introduzione di isole robotizzate.
Seppur ad un ritmo nettamente inferiore, anche l’industria delle costruzioni ha sviluppato una propria declinazione del paradigma, chiamata "Costruzioni 4.0", basata sull'interconnessione digitale e sull'automazione dell’intero processo costruttivo. Tuttavia, finora, i progressi nell’automatizzazione dell’industria delle costruzioni sono insufficienti, perlopiù limitati alla fabbricazione di elementi semplici.
Lo scopo di questo lavoro di tesi è dimostrare la possibilità di sviluppare flussi di lavoro digitali e sistemi costruttivi innovativi in grado di portare la robotica e l’automazione sia in ambiente di prefabbricazione, sia in cantiere.
A tal fine, l'autore ha collaborato con il laboratorio Indexlab del Politecnico di Milano per lo sviluppo di quattro processi di fabbricazione robotica, ognuno dei quali focalizzato su un diverso tipo di elemento costruttivo. Per ogni processo di fabbricazione è stata effettuata una sperimentazione pratica che ha dimostrato il funzionamento del sistema e ha portato alla produzione di diversi mock-up.
I risultati delle sperimentazioni mostrano che il flusso di lavoro digitale proposto può controllare con successo i sistemi robotici, riuscendo ad eseguire operazioni completamente diverse tra loro. È stato anche dimostrato che, dotando robot industriali e collaborativi di strumenti personalizzati, è possibile realizzare diversi elementi costruttivi, tra cui schermature solari leggere, elementi di rivestimento free-form, pannelli prefabbricati di forma complessa, telai a geometria variabile in alluminio ed elementi alleggeriti in calcestruzzo di forma libera.
Questo studio apre la strada allo sviluppo di isole robotizzate modulari che si basano su un numero limitato di robot e su una grande varietà di strumenti che consentono di eseguire con flessibilità, velocità e precisione, operazioni di fabbricazione “off-site” - in fabbrica - o direttamente “on-site” - in cantiere.The construction industry is one of the driving forces of the EU economy. When compared to other manufacturing sectors, the construction industry has traditionally been characterised by a high diversity of its stakeholders and production processes, as well as a high resistance to innovation and a limited integration technology.
Most of the production processes in the construction industry are traditionally manual or artisanal in nature, organised with simple management tools that lack technology integration. The absence of automation determines a much lower productivity when compared with other industries.
Meanwhile, other sectors like the automotive and aeronautical industries are shifting to a new paradigm called “Industry 4.0”, which introduces automation, monitoring, sensorisation, robotisation and digitalisation to the production processes with the goal of increasing productivity.
Although at a much lower pace, the construction industry is also moving towards its own paradigm declination, called “Construction 4.0”, which is based on a digital interconnection and automation of the whole manufacturing process.
Few advancements have been made in bringing automation to the construction industry, most of which focused on the fabrication of simple elements.
The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how robotics and automation can be integrated both on-site and off-site by developing innovative fabrication processes and digital workflows.
The author collaborated with Indexlab, a research laboratory of Politecnico di Milano, for the development of four unique robotic fabrication processes, each focused on a different type of construction element.
A practical experimentation has been performed for each fabrication process, which highlights the inner workings of the system and resulted in the production of several mock-ups.
The results of experiments show that the proposed digital workflow can successfully control robotic cells in order to perform completely different tasks. It is also shown that by equipping industrial and collaborative robots with custom end-effectors it is possible to manufacture various construction products, such as: lightweight shadings, free-form cladding elements, complex-shaped prefabricated panels, variable aluminium frames and free-form concrete elements.
This study paves the way to the development of modular robotic cells characterised by a limited number of manipulators and a great variety of different tools in order to perform fabrication operations effectively, off-site or on-site
Multidisciplinary approach for environmental evaluation: issues and synergisms in combining Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Risk Assessment (RA)
Get PDFIn questo lavoro di tesi si è elaborato un quadro di riferimento per l’utilizzo combinato di due metodologie di valutazione di impatti LCA e RA, per tecnologie emergenti. L’originalità dello studio sta nell’aver proposto e anche applicato il quadro di riferimento ad un caso studio, in particolare ad una tecnologia innovativa di refrigerazione, basata su nanofluidi (NF), sviluppata da partner del progetto Europeo Nanohex che hanno collaborato all’elaborazione degli studi soprattutto per quanto riguarda l’inventario dei dati necessari. La complessità dello studio è da ritrovare tanto nella difficile integrazione di due metodologie nate per scopi differenti e strutturate per assolvere a quegli scopi, quanto nel settore di applicazione che seppur in forte espansione ha delle forti lacune di informazioni circa processi di produzione e comportamento delle sostanze.
L’applicazione è stata effettuata sulla produzione di nanofluido (NF) di allumina secondo due vie produttive (single-stage e two-stage) per valutare e confrontare gli impatti per la salute umana e l’ambiente. Occorre specificare che il LCA è stato quantitativo ma non ha considerato gli impatti dei NM nelle categorie di tossicità. Per quanto concerne il RA è stato sviluppato uno studio di tipo qualitativo, a causa della problematica di carenza di parametri tossicologici e di esposizione su citata avente come focus la categoria dei lavoratori, pertanto è stata fatta l’assunzione che i rilasci in ambiente durante la fase di produzione sono trascurabili. Per il RA qualitativo è stato utilizzato un SW specifico, lo Stoffenmanger-Nano che rende possibile la prioritizzazione dei rischi associati ad inalazione in ambiente di lavoro. Il quadro di riferimento prevede una procedura articolata in quattro fasi: DEFINIZIONE SISTEMA TECNOLOGICO, RACCOLTA DATI, VALUTAZIONE DEL RISCHIO E QUANTIFICAZIONE DEGLI IMPATTI, INTERPRETAZIONE.In this paper the author propose a framework for combining Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Risk Assessment (RA) to support the sustainability assessment of emerging technologies. This proposal includes four steps of analysis: technological system definition; data collection; risk evaluation and impacts quantification; results interpretation. This scheme has been applied to a case study of nanofluid alumina production in two different pilot lines, “single-stage” and “two-stage”. The study has been developed in the NanoHex project (enhanced nano-fluid heat exchange). Goals of the study were analysing the hotspots and highlighting possible trade-off between the results of LCA, which identifies the processes having the best environmental performance, and the results of RA, which identifies the scenarios having the highest risk for workers. Indeed, due to lack of data about exposure limits, exposure-dose relationships and toxicity of alumina nanopowder and nanofluid, the workplace exposure has been evaluated by means of qualitative Risk Assessment, using Stoffenmanager Nano. Though having different aims, LCA and RA have a complementary role in the description of impacts of products/substances/technologies. Their combined use can overcome limits of each of them and allows a wider vision of the problems to better support the decision making process
Village regeneration. A new communication system to storytell the soul of Cangdong village
No full textLAUREA MAGISTRALELa tesi esplora il fenomeno di rapida urbanizzazione della Cina moderna e la conseguente scomparsa dei villaggi rurali. Contrariamente alla maggior parte dei paesi del mondo, la cultura cinese è in gran parte conservata nelle champagne, dove le comunità rurali custodiscono pratiche tradizionali uniche, patrimonio perso per sempre se entro i prossimi decenni non verranno trovati dei modi per integrare i villaggi nella Cina moderna. Per fronteggiare tale panorama, strategie sostenibili stanno oggi emergendo, finalizzate alla riqualificazione dei villaggi e delle loro comunità locali. Lo studio si concentra in particolare sulla strategia di intervento effettuato per il villaggio di Cangdong, un insediamento a 140 chilometri a ovest di Guangzhou nella contea di Kaiping, provincia del Guangdong, chiamata anche la "culla dei cinesi d'oltremare". L'autore ha collaborato con il Cangdong Education Center con l'obiettivo principale di progettare una strategia di comunicazione efficace e convincente per la promozione educativa, il turismo e la conservazione del patrimonio nel villaggio, supportata da casi di studio significativi.The thesis explores the phenomenon of Modern China rapid urbanization and the resulting disappearance of rural villages, leading to an uneven distribution of urban-rural population affecting the Chinese social-cultural landscape. Moreover, contrary to most countries in the world, Chinese culture is largely preserved in the countryside where rural communities are custodians of a wide range of traditional practices unique to China such as art and crafts, architecture and farming related that will be lost forever within the next few decades (Cheung, Fassi 2015) unless new ways to integrate these villages into modern China and preserve rural environment are not found. Within this framework, such a concern is crucial and also preservation lately has been encouraged by the President Xi Jinping, who claimed that China needs to increase its efforts to protect its cultural heritage (Thomson Reuters 2016). To cope with this situation new sustainable strategies are emerging nowadays aiming at the regeneration of the villages and their local community.
The research provides the reader with case studies of sustainable tourism interventions, such as the case of the Maasai Tribe in Africa, to show the negative effects of a wrongly implemented sustainable action and the successful interventions in China of the Old Town of Lijiang and the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat in Yunnan province, the case of Puxing City in Sichuan province and the case of a village regeneration action in Inner Mongolia.
The study specifically focuses on the intervention strategy carried out in the Cangdong village, a forgotten settlement about 140 km West to Guangzhou, in the Kaiping County, Guangdong Province, also called the “cradle of Overseas Chinese”. They are a large community now living a wealthy life abroad with ancestral roots in this area and representing a useful resource for the village as owners of many ancestral houses that without their permission cannot be restored and used as new infrastructures for educational tourism. Kaiping and the surrounding villages were chosen to be inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 2007, and in 2010 the Cangdong Education Center started its activity in the area with the main purpose of enhancing the interest of young generations and common people for cultural heritage conservation and educational tourism throughout instructive workshops, activities and projects enabling the participation of the local villagers to also ultimately build a wealthy community in Cangdong.
The author has collaborated with the Cangdong Education Center with the main goal to design an effective and compelling communication strategy to promote educational tourism and heritage conservation in the village, supported by meaningful case studies of successful examples of empathic communication with the target audience. The strategy is applied to digital touch-points, storytelling powerful and impressive contents about the village addressed to foreign tourists, international students and Overseas Chinese. This will finally contribute to the achievement of the main design challenge of the study: strengthen the territorial identity of Cangdong
