A possible source of biological material for the production of biodiesel is represented by microalgae, in particular by their lipid content. The aim of the present work was to study of the effects of ...temperature and nitrogen concentration on the lipid content of
Nannochloropsis oculata and
Chlorella vulgaris in view of their possible utilization as novel raw materials for biodiesel production. In addition, various lipid extraction methods were investigated. The extracted lipids were quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed by gravimetric and gas chromatographic methods, respectively, in order to check their suitability according to the European standards for biodiesel. The lipid content of microalgae was strongly influenced by the variation of tested parameters; indeed, an increase in temperature from 20 to 25
°C practically doubled the lipid content of
N. oculata (from 7.90 to 14.92%), while an increase from 25 to 30
°C brought about a decrease of the lipid content of
C. vulgaris from 14.71 to 5.90%. On the other hand, a 75% decrease of the nitrogen concentration in the medium, with respect to the optimal values for growth, increased the lipid fractions of
N. oculata from 7.90 to 15.31% and of
C. vulgaris from 5.90 to 16.41%, respectively.
Dopo l'8 settembre 1943, la liberazione di Mussolini e la costituzione del nuovo stato fascista repubblicano - dal dicembre 1943 denominato Repubblica sociale italiana - si decise di trasferire la ...sede del governo, e di tutta l'amministrazione centrale dello stato, nell'Italia del Nord. Fu un trasferimento lungo e complicato che alla fine vide gli uffici ministeriali disseminati in decine di località prevalentemente del Veneto e della Lombardia. Un trasferimento che, oltre alle strutture ministeriali, interessò la totalità degli enti statali e parastatali, gli uffici confederali e giudiziari, coinvolgendo migliaia di funzionari e impiegati.
Background, aim, and scope
Life-cycle thinking and life-cycle approaches are concepts that are getting increased attention worldwide and in particular in EU Policies related to sustainability. The ...European Commission is launching a number of activities to strengthen life-cycle thinking in policy and business. EU policies aim to decrease waste generation through new waste prevention initiatives, better use of resources and shift to more sustainable consumption patterns. The approach to waste management is based on three principles: waste prevention, recycling and reuse and improving the final disposal and monitoring. In particular, concerning the prevention and recycling of waste, the definition of a waste hierarchy should be the basis for the prioritisation of waste management options. The benefit of using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in analysing waste management systems is the provision of a comprehensive view of the processes and impacts involved. However, it is also clear that the studies will always be open for criticism as they are simplifications of reality. Moreover, in order to become the LCA, a leading tool within businesses and government to understand and manage risks or opportunities related to waste management and treatment technologies, there are methodological choices required and a number of aspects that still need to be worked out. It is therefore important to review open and grey literatures, EU guidelines, relevant environmental indicators and databases for the waste sector and data easily usable in waste policy decision-making, with an agreed approach and methodology based on life-cycle thinking. The following survey gathers and describes the existing guidelines and methodologies based on life-cycle thinking and applicable in waste policy decision-making.
Main features
This survey is focused on three main issues: definition and categorisation of waste streams and technologies; review and interpretation of existing waste-specific guidelines and tools; identification of specific key environmental performance indicators for the waste sector. Considering that a wide part of municipal solid waste is biodegradable and that their degradation is the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions in the waste management sector, considerable attention has been paid to biodegradable municipal waste.
Results
The survey shows that general technical guidance documents should take into account the following key issues: how to categorise waste streams, how to develop a waste hierarchy from a life-cycle point of view, how to include any possible new waste treatment technologies and to take into account local and waste-related factors. Moreover, the survey summarises the generic/default values that could be used for waste-related key parameters when insufficient information/data are available. The survey identifies some key environmental performance indicators in the waste sector. The analysis of existing waste-specific guidelines and tools leads to a list of available methodologies and foreground/background environmental data sources that satisfy specific data constraints (origin, time-related coverage, geographical coverage, technology coverage).
Discussion
The survey points out the need for strategic guidance documents for policy makers with quantitative examples to define the waste hierarchy. Depending on the characteristics of the specific cluster or area, such as climate, population density, etc., these documents should be integrated with quantitative considerations related to cost and social dimension, as complementary information to the environmental aspects of sustainability in waste management in order to address the preferable options to be considered for the definition of a local waste hierarchy.
Conclusions
The survey shows that a considerable number of decision models and methodologies for the integration of life-cycle thinking into waste management have been developed for several waste streams and waste-management and treatment technologies. This leads to the need of a critical analysis of the existing guidelines and tools.
Perspectives
A survey of life-cycle approaches in waste management has been presented in this paper. The analysis of specific waste streams and the integration of different environmental tools supporting the choice between different waste-treatment options could be taken into consideration for further work.
The centennial anniversary of the end of World War I brought leaders of tens of countries together in Paris. Despite the unity with which the commemorations were carried out, war memorials in ...different states have often accomplished various goals. This paper will focus on how WWI memorials have aided in the building of national collective memories in Britain, France, and Germany, and will assess their role in the creation and replication of national identities. Memorials evoking 'modes of collectivity' as well as 'atmospheres of remembrance' will be discussed to show the prevalence of commemorations in the victorious states.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, ODKLJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The Integrated Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (IP-SOFC) is an innovative fuel cell concept which is substantially a cross between tubular and planar geometries, seeking to borrow thermal compliance ...properties from the former and low cost component fabrication and short current paths from the latter. In this study, a simulation model for the IP-SOFC is presented, with particular highlight on the simulation of the local reaction, taking into account the chemical and electrochemical processes occurring at the electrodes, together with mass transport issues. Some aspects of the overall reactor simulation are discussed as well. The model results have been compared to the experimental data obtained from both a small scale IP-SOFC module and a full-size prototype; in both cases the agreement is good. This electrochemical model is the basis of a detailed model of the full-scale IP-SOFC reactor to be included into a plant simulation tool designed to support thermodynamic analysis of hybrid IP-SOFC/GT (Gas Turbine) systems.
Adsorption tests were performed on two different exhausted oils to reduce their polluting and health hazard potential: a “water-insoluble oil”, utilised for automotive engine lubrication, and an ...“emulsified” oil, used as coolant for metal-cutting tools. Dolomite, a low-cost recovery material, was used to prepare two effective adsorbents: (a) a mixed Ca and Mg oxide obtained by thermal decomposition of dolomite at 1800°C, and (b) an activated material obtained by submitting this product to chemical treatment with HCl. Preliminary tests carried out with an excess of the former material showed that the insoluble oil was adsorbed with lower yield (
Y=0.40) than the soluble (emulsified) oil (
Y=0.60). The material activation with HCl remarkably improved the adsorption of soluble oil organic fraction (
Y>0.90), while only a little increase in the removal yield was observed for the insoluble oil (
Y=0.44). The results presented and discussed in this work pointed out that the products of dolomite calcination can successfully replace the conventional adsorbing materials in the removal of organic pollutants, with particular concern to exhausted soluble oils, which cannot usually be recycled, thus reducing the operational costs of their treatment.
Abstract Background Currently, European and especially Italian healthcare systems are being challenged with providing medical care to an increasing number of refugees but also to the homeless living ...on the streets, in reception facilities or cohabitation. In 2022, over 200,000 irregular arrivals of migrants to Europe were recorded, coming from mainly African and also Asian countries and frequently via Mediterranean migration routes. Objectives This study aims to report the results of a social support programme to provide treatment and improve health‐related quality of life (HrQoL) in refugees and homeless people. Methods Observational study during the year 2022, including patients with an immigration background visiting the Clinica dell'Istituto di S. Maria e S. Gallicano di Roma, Italy (IRCCS), or being homeless during this observational study. Results We have seen 210 patients. In 177 cases (84.3%), a definitive diagnosis is known. Most frequent skin conditions were infectious, allergic or due to secondary inflammation. We also saw rare cutaneous conditions like Madelung disease or Darier disease. Conclusions We provided dermatological consultation and treatment to this very vulnerable population, and our experience shows that this social support programme to enable access to dermatological consultation for the poor was able to improve not only the clinical condition but also the HrQoL 4 weeks after consultation and beginning of treatment.
This work aims at increasing the knowledge about the recovery of aromatic compounds from the lignin fraction of sugarcane bagasse, as well as exploring the possibility to recover these fine chemicals ...of great concern for many industrial sectors. The major natural products contained in the lignin fraction of such a straw material were extracted in previous work by alkaline hydrolysis using different concentrations of NaOH and amounts of bagasse, and HPLC analyses revealed that the extracts mainly contained p‐coumaric acid, ferulic acid, syringic acid, and vanillin, the first three containing and the last lacking a carboxyl group. All these aromatic compounds have well‐known antioxidant power and are very important in pharmacology. For these reasons, they have been investigated in this study by UV spectrophotometry, with special concern to the pH effect on their spectra and determination of their pKa values.
The major natural products contained in the lignin fraction of sugarcane bagasse, specifically the aromatic compounds p‐coumaric acid, ferulic acid, syringic acid, and vanillin with well‐known pharmacologically important antioxidant power, were physicochemically characterized by UV spectrophotometry with special attention to the pH effect on their spectra and determination of their pKa values.
Most of the metals released from industrial activity, among them are cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni), inhibit the productivity of cultures and affect microbial metabolism. In this context, the aim of ...this work was to investigate the capacity of sugar cane vinasse to mitigate the adverse effects of Cd and Ni on cell growth, viability, budding rate and trehalose content of
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
, likely because of adsorption and chelating action. For this purpose, the yeast was grown batch-wise in YED medium supplemented with selected amounts of vinasse and Cd or Ni. The negative effects of Cd and Ni on
S. cerevisiae
growth and the mitigating one of sugar cane vinasse were quantified by an exponential model. Without vinasse, the addition of increasing levels of Cd and Ni reduced the specific growth rate, whereas in its presence no reduction was observed. Consistently with the well-proved toxicity of both metals, cell viability and budding rate progressively decreased with increasing their concentration, but in the presence of vinasse the situation was remarkably improved. The trehalose content of
S. cerevisiae
cells followed the same qualitative behavior as cell viability, even though the negative effect of both metals on this parameter was stronger. These results demonstrate the ability of sugar cane vinasse to mitigate the toxic effects of Cd and Ni.
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