A Bayesian unfolding has been applied to ionisation distributions due to 5.4 MeV alpha particles in a 20-nm site obtained using Monte Carlo simulations, taking into account different detection ...efficiency conditions. The ideal case of a target volume with uniform efficiency has been investigated to study the dependence of the reconstruction on prior distributions. A simplified approach has been used to treat the case of a target volume with non-uniformly distributed efficiency, like the sensitive volume of the track-nanodosimetric counter. Our results point out that Bayesian analysis provides a effective tool for reconstructing the true ionisation distributions, well beyond the maximum measured cluster size.
Leachate from landfill is one of the most relevant unsolved environmental issues, in particular related to the high ammonia content. In this work, the possibility of treating this waste stream with a ...combined approach that includes both physical and biological treatment was assessed. The process is composed by a first evaporation/condensation step in an innovative industrial technology (WastWa) developed by Solwa SrL, that allows separating an aqueous stream in which about half of the water volume and most of the ammonia are recovered, and a concentrated leachate stream. The ammonia-rich water stream can be then sent to a microalgal cultivation step for N removal, while the concentrated waste can either be partially used to provide micronutrients for microalgal growth or delivered to phytodepuration. The feasibility of the process was tested at lab scale by carrying out both batch and continuous experiments with Acutodesmus obliquus, a microalgal species isolated from a pond containing pretreated leachate from an urban landfill located in Lazio (Italy). This strain was cultivated both in untreated leachate and in the aqueous outlet stream of the WastWa unit. A simulation model of the microalgal growth process was implemented in Aspen Plus, keeping into account the chemical equilibrium and ionic speciation of the nutrients in solution as well as the pH. The model was able to reproduce well the experimental data, and can therefore be a useful tool to evaluate the feasibility of the proposed process at large-scale.
At INFN-Legnaro the heavy ion injector PIAVE, based on two superconducting RFQ and eight quarter wave resonators (QWR), is at an advanced stage of beam commissioning. The RFQs (SRFQ1 and SRFQ2), ...built in full Nb within a stiffening Ti jacket, are 0.8
m in diameter and 1.4 and 0.8
m long respectively, with a resonant frequency of 80
MHz. The PIAVE beam is bunched by a normal conducting 3-harmonic buncher upstream the SRFQs. The SRFQs are specified to work at a peak surface field of 25.5
MV/m, a value which was exceeded in the test phase and has been recently confirmed in on-line tests. Phase and amplitude locking, versus both microphonics and pressure variations of the liquid helium bath, is the main issue. Since November 2004, the two SRFQs have been used quite extensively, for beam acceleration tests in PIAVE, showing a high degree of reliability. A
16O
3+ pilot beam, received from an ECR ion source located on a high voltage platform, was used in the tests. The typical ion beam current was a few hundreds nA, even though it could be raised up to a few μA without any inconveniences. Beam tests with
132Xe
18+ were made too. The paper reports the more recent results of on-line SRFQ tests and beam operation.
Worldwide efforts to tackle the nature of exotic nuclei comprise the construction of new-generation Radioactive Ion Beam facilities. The Italian community is deeply involved in the process and the ...construction of SPES at Legnaro National Laboratories (INFN) is progressing. This contribution describes the layout of SPES in all its flavours, from Nuclear Physics to Applications in Nuclear Medicine and Neutron Physics. In particular, the status of the SPES-β ISOL facility, together with some of the relevant physics cases and the associated equipment are described.
Body image distortion and/or dissatisfaction may occur primarily due to body fat accumulation and/or distribution. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of body image perception and ...(dis)satisfaction categories in adult men and women according to the adiposity classification. This is a cross-sectional study (n = 514; 33-79 years; 265 women) that is part of a prospective cohort (Pró-Saúde study). Adiposity measurements were determined by two methods: anthropometry, used to calculate the body mass index (BMI) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), to estimate body fat percentage. Participants were grouped as "no excess adiposity" and "excess adiposity", considering BMI and body fat percentage (>30% for men, >40% for women). Perception and (dis)satisfaction with body image were evaluated using the Kakeshita scale, composed by 15 silhouettes, developed for the Brazilian population. Degree of distortion (perceived BMI - real BMI) and dissatisfaction (perceived BMI - desired BMI) were calculated. A high proportion of men (58.6%; 74.3%), and especially of women (82.6%; 86.8%), presented body size overestimation and dissatisfaction due to excess weight, respectively. A relevant fraction of the women (32.6%) and men (30.8%) who were dissatisfied due to excess weight did not present excess adiposity, especially if classified by DXA. Variability in degree of distortion was hardly explained by anthropometric and DXA variables in women (<5%) and men (~22%). Both anthropometric and DXA measurements accounted for ~30% and ~50% of the variability in degree of dissatisfaction among women and men, respectively. Our results suggest a high frequency of body image distortion in Brazilian adult individuals, as well as dissatisfaction with excess weight, especially among women with excess adiposity. The findings indicate that anthropometric measurements explain much of the variability in degree of body image dissatisfaction in men, with no apparent advantage of the use of more refined DXA measurements.
In 2009, a food classification was proposed, called NOVA classification. Latin American countries have stood out in their use in nutritional recommendations and regulatory agenda. Objective. To ...evaluate how scientific production in food and nutrition in Latin America has incorporated the NOVA classification. Materials and methods. The analysis of scientific production was carried out from annals at the Latin American Congress of Nutrition (SLAN) in 2012, 2015 and 2018. The terms used for the search were: NOVA, ultra-processed, processed, processing and food guide, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. After the search, the exclusion and inclusion criteria were applied and the selected abstracts were described according to previously defined analytical variables. Results. A total of 153 were analyzed, 24 of which were published in 2012, 20 in 2015 and 109 in 2018. Most studies were carried out in Brazil (56,2%), followed by Mexico (12,4%) and involved adolescents (28,8%), adults (21,6%) and food (19,6%) as subject or unit of analysis. Most of the works were classified in the area of Public Health Nutrition (88,9%), were observational (82,3%) and used a quantitative method (76,5%). The sale and/or consumption of food (46,4%) and the food environment (24,2%) were the most common objects of study. Conclusion. The scientific production that considers the NOVA classification in Latin America increased in 2018, with Brazil and Mexico leading the development of studies. Studies that explore the relationship of NOVA classification to food price, culinary skills and public policy analysis are research opportunities.
Introdução. Em 2009, foi proposta uma classificação de alimentos, denominada classificação NOVA. Países da América Latina tem se destacado em seu uso nas recomendações nutricionais e agenda ...regulatória. Objetivo. Avaliar como a produção científica em alimentação e nutrição na América Latina tem incorporado a classificação NOVA. Materiais e métodos. A análise da produção científica foi realizada a partir de trabalhos apresentados no Congresso Latinoamericano de Nutrição (SLAN) nos anos de 2012, 2015 e 2018. Os termos utilizados para a busca foram: NOVA, ultraprocessado, processado, processamento e guia alimentar, nos idiomas português, inglês e espanhol. Após a busca, foram aplicados os critérios de exclusão e inclusão e os resumos selecionados foram descritos de acordo com variáveis analíticas previamente definidas. Resultados. Foram analisados 153, sendo 24 publicados em 2012, 20 em 2015 e 109 em 2018. A maioria dos estudos foram desenvolvidos no Brasil (56,2%) e no México (12,4%) e envolvia adolescentes (28,8%), adultos (21,6%) e alimentos (19,6%) como sujeito/unidade de análise. A maioria dos trabalhos foi classificada na área de Nutrição em Saúde Pública (88,9%), era de natureza observacional (82,3%) e empregava método quantitativo (76,5%). A venda e/ou consumo de alimentos (46,4%) e o ambiente alimentar (24,2%) foram os objetos de estudo mais frequentes. Conclusão. A produção científica que considera a classificação NOVA na América Latina aumentou em 2018, com Brasil e México liderando o desenvolvimento dos estudos. Estudos que explorem a relação da classificação NOVA com o preço dos alimentos, habilidades culinárias e políticas públicas são oportunidades de pesquisa.
SRFQ2 is the second RFQ superconducting (SC) structure of PIAVE, the positive ion injector of the SC LINAC for heavy ions ALPI, in operation at Legnaro.During 2001, SRFQ2 was extensively tested at ...cryogenic temperature reaching its design performance, i.e., 280 kV inter-electrode voltage (equivalent to 25 MV/m peak surface electrical field) at 7 W dissipated power.This paper describes the treatments, the main difficulties arisen during the tests, the way they were overcome and the measurement sequences that allowed the characterization of SRFQ2 behavior. A brief description of future programs is also given.
Commissioning of the ALPI post-accelerator Dainelli, A; Bassato, G; Battistella, A ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
11/1996, Volume:
382, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The commissioning phase of the ALPI post-accelerator started at the beginning of 1994 with the installation of the medium beta section (
β = 0.11). Test beams of different injection energies and ion ...species have been accelerated with ALPI and delivered to the experimental halls. The main components of the post-accelerator, namely the cryogenic plant, the pulsing system, the optical and diagnostic elements for the beam transport, the vacuum, rf and control systems was widely tested under different conditions. The average accelerating field over the 44 installed superconducting lead on copper resonators turns out to be 2.5 MV/m and the phase locking procedure for the 48 resonators (accelerating and buncher cavities) is normally completed in about 10 hours. The overall beam transmission towards the post-accelerator is 70% with the DC beam and up to 50% with the pulsed and accelerated beam with currents on the target of the order of some p nA.