Polarization modulator units (PMUs) represent a critical and powerful component in CMB polarization experiments to suppress the 1/
f
noise component and mitigate systematic uncertainties induced by ...detector gain drifts and beam asymmetries. The LiteBIRD mission (expected launch in the late 2020 s) will be equipped with 3 PMUs, one for each of the 3 telescopes, and aims at detecting the primordial gravitational waves with a sensitivity of
δ
r
<
0.001
. Each PMU is based on a continuously rotating transmissive half-wave plate held by a superconducting magnetic bearing in the 5 K environment. To achieve and monitor the rotation a number of subsystems is needed: clamp and release system and motor coils for the rotation; optical encoder, capacitive, Hall and temperature sensors to monitor its dynamic stability. In this contribution, we present a preliminary thermal design of the harness configuration for the PMUs of the mid- and high- frequency telescopes. The design is based on both the stringent system constraint for the total thermal budget available for the PMUs (
≲
4 mW at 5 K) and on the requirements for different subsystem: coils currents (up to 10 mA), optical fibers for encoder readout, 25 MHz bias signal for temperature and levitation monitors.
•We focused on the dynamics the formation of operational costs of waste management.•We provide the basic elements to compose a picture of economic management.•We present a reflection on the last ...hidden costs associated with the consumption of goods and packaging.•Reduction of waste production.
This paper focuses on the dynamics the formation of operational costs of waste management in Italy and the effect of economic measures. Currently incentives and penalties have been internalized by the system no differently from other cost items and revenues. This has greatly influenced the system directing it towards solutions that are often distant from the real environmental objectives. Based on an analysis of disaggregated costs of collection treatment and recovery, we provide the basic elements to compose a picture of economic management in various technical–organizational scenarios.
In the light of the considerations contained in the paper it is proposed, e.g. for controlled landfills, that the ecotax, currently based on weight, could be replaced by one based on the volume consumption. Likewise, for tax reduction on disposal system, instead a pre-treatment might ask an environmental balance of the overall system.
The article presents a reflection on the last hidden costs associated with the consumption of goods and packaging, and how to reduce waste production is the necessary path to be followed in ecological and economic perspectives.
Evidence suggests that endothelial dysfunction is on the causal pathway for both atherogenesis and destabilization of established plaques. In this review, the role of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) ...as a non-invasive method to assess endothelial function is discussed. Technical modifications and development of analysis software have significantly improved the variability of the method. Following a strict standardized protocol enables reproducible measurements to be achieved and export of the technique from specialized laboratories to population studies and multicentre settings. Endothelial function assessed by FMD has been shown to be affected by cardiovascular risk factors, to be related to structural arterial disease and to cardiovascular outcome, validating its use for studying the pathophysiology of arterial disease. Numerous studies have also demonstrated that it is responsive to physiological and pharmacological interventions. Flow-mediated dilatation provides unique opportunities in drug development programmes to assess an early rapidly responsive signal of risk or benefit, complementing endpoints of structural arterial disease and cardiovascular outcomes that take much longer and are more expensive.
Water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) contribute to climate change and air pollution, as they are anthropogenic potential sources of direct and indirect emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs). ...Studies concerning the monitoring and accounting for GHG emissions from WRRFs are of increasing interest. In this study, the floating hood technique for gas collection was coupled with the off-gas method to monitor and apportion nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from both aerated and non-aerated tanks in a municipal water resource recovery facility, in order to investigate its carbon footprint (CFP). To our knowledge, this is the first time that the chamber technique was applied to evaluate gas fluxes from the settler, where an emission factor (EF) of 4.71 ∗ 10−5 kgCO2,eq kgbCOD−1 was found. Interesting results were found in the disinfection unit, which was the major contributor to direct N2O emissions (with a specific emission factor of 0.008 kgCO2,eq kgbCOD−1), due to the chemical interaction between hydroxylamine and the disinfectant agent (hypochlorite). The specific emission factor of the biological aerated tank was 0.00112 kgCO2,eq kgbCOD−1. The average direct CO2 emission was equal to 0.068 kgCO2 kgbCOD−1 from the activated sludge tank and to 0.00017 kgCO2 kgbCOD−1 from the secondary clarifier. Therefore, taking into account the contribution of both direct N2O and CO2 emissions, values of 0.069 kgCO2,eq kgbCOD−1, 0.008 kgCO2,eq kgbCOD−1 and 0.00022 kgCO2,eq kgbCOD−1, were found for the net CFP of the aerated compartment, the disinfection unit and the clarifier, respectively.
The plant energy Footprint (eFP) was also evaluated, confirming that the aeration system is the major contributor to energy consumption, as well as to indirect CO2 emission, with a specific eFP of 1.49 kWh kgbCOD−1.
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•CO2 and N2O emitted during wastewater treatment in water resource recovery facilities•Floating hood technique utilised for gas collection•CO2 and N2O emissions from aerated and non-aerated tanks•Comparison of two methods for the measurement of gas fluxes from non-aerated tanks•Contribution of disinfection process to N2O emissions from WRRFs
This study aimed to determine the ability of the fungus Trichoderma harzianum strain T22 (Th-T22) to utilize diesel fuel as a carbon source. The potential use of Th-T22 for diesel bioremediation in ...an artificial soil was tested by inoculating a diesel-sand mixture with a fungal mycelial suspension of Th-T22. Given the ability of ozone to degrade compounds with low biochemical reactivity, the effect of a pre- and post-ozonation was also evaluated. The survival, growth and sporulation of Th-T22 throughout the bioremediation trial were monitored in all the treatments. In the post-ozonation treatments, the biodegradation percentages of diesel removal were 70.16% and 88.35% in Th-T22-inoculated sand treated or untreated with the antibacterial streptomycin, respectively. The results showed that ozonation alone caused good removal efficiencies (41.9%) but it was much more effective if combined with Th-T22 in a post-ozonation regime, whereas pre-ozonation negatively affected the subsequent biodegradation, likely due to its disinfectant and oxidizing effect on Th-T22. The results obtained demonstrated the significant mycoremediation ability of Th-T22 in diesel-contaminated sand and its possible use as a bioremediation agent for diesel spills in polluted sites.
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•Bioremediation by Trichoderma harzianum in diesel-contaminated sand was studied.•The effect of ozonation was also examined (pre- and post-treatment).•Survival, growth and sporulation of T. harzianum were monitored.•T. harzianum showed mycoremediation effect in diesel-contaminated sand.•Pre-ozonation negatively affected the subsequent biodegradation.
We have observed the Andromeda galaxy, Messier 31 (M31), at 6.7 GHz with the Sardinia Radio Telescope. We mapped the radio emission in the C-band, re-analyzed WMAP and Planck maps, as well as other ...ancillary data, and we have derived an overall integrated flux density spectrum from the radio to the infrared. This allowed us to estimate the emission budget from M31. Integrating over the whole galaxy, we found strong and highly significant evidence for anomalous microwave emission (AME), at the level of Jy at the peaking frequency of 25 GHz. Decomposing the spectrum into known emission mechanisms such as free-free, synchrotron, thermal dust, and AME arising from electric dipole emission from rapidly rotating dust grains, we found that the overall emission from M31 is dominated, at frequencies below 10 GHz, by synchrotron emission with a spectral index of , with subdominant free-free emission. At frequencies 10 GHz, AME has a similar intensity to that of synchrotron and free-free emission, overtaking them between 20 and 50 GHz, whereas thermal dust emission dominates the emission budget at frequencies above 60 GHz, as expected.
For most primates living in tropical forests, food resources occur in patchworks of different habitats that vary seasonally in quality and quantity. Efficient navigation (i.e., spatial memory-based ...orientation) towards profitable food patches should enhance their foraging success. The mechanisms underpinning primate navigating ability remain nonetheless mostly unknown. Using GPS long-term tracking (596 days) of one group of wild western lowland gorillas (
Gorilla gorilla gorilla)
, we investigated their ability to navigate at long distances, and tested for how the sun was used to navigate at any scale by improving landmark visibility and/or by acting as a compass. Long episodic movements ending at a distant swamp, a unique place in the home range where gorillas could find mineral-rich aquatic plants, were straighter and faster than their everyday foraging movements relying on spatial memory. This suggests intentional targeting of the swamp based on long-distance navigation skills, which can thus be efficient over a couple of kilometres. Interestingly, for both long-distance movements towards the swamp and everyday foraging movements, gorillas moved straighter under sunlight conditions even under a dense vegetation cover. By contrast, movement straightness was not markedly different when the sun elevation was low (the sun azimuth then being potentially usable as a compass) or high (so providing no directional information) and the sky was clear or overcast. This suggests that gorillas navigate their home range by relying on visual place recognition but do not use the sun azimuth as a compass. Like humans, who rely heavily on vision to navigate, gorillas should benefit from better lighting to help them identify landmarks as they move through shady forests. This study uncovers a neglected aspect of primate navigation. Spatial memory and vision might have played an important role in the evolutionary success of diurnal primate lineages.
The development of a “wood waste” supply chain using treated urban waste is proposed for fertirrigation of eucalypt clonal plantations. We used the simplified SI-UNIBAS urban waste water purification ...system, a modification of the conventional activated sludge system which allows for the production of water with variable loads of organic carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), thus adapting the treated water to the crop requirements. A prototype of this system already exists since more than a decade in the municipality of Ferrandina, near Matera (southern Italy), where the purified wastewater is used to fertirrigate olive trees in an extensive experimentation with excellent results. We hypothesized the use of the SI-UNIBAS system to fertirrigate plantations of fast-growing eucalyptus clones in order to evaluate the obtainable wood production and the surfaces to be planted in areas of central and southern Italy characterized by evergreen and deciduous oak forests. In summary, the development of the “wood waste” chain could result in: (i) a reduction of up to 50% in waste treatment costs and CO2 emissions, compared to the conventional activated sludge system; (ii) a high and constant wood production (8 million m3 per year) over a short time (8-15 years rotation) on limited surfaces (about 400.000 ha) to be used as timber and/or biomass for energy use; (iii) savings on the cost of irrigation water, fertilizers or organic matter for wood production, while maintaining the soil fertility; (iv) savings on the use of chemical fertilizers and therefore no CO2 emissions from their production; (v) a lower logging from national forests and/or imports from abroad; (vi) the possibility of managing parts of forests currently subject to logging in a more efficient way in terms of absorption and conservation of atmospheric CO2 and biodiversity conservation. However, before large-scale applications of the SI-UNIBAS system, pilot studies need to be implemented in sites with soil, climatic and socio-economic conditions typical of central and southern Italy. We concluded that the SI-UNIBAS system has the potential to be applied in large-scale projects at the national level.
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