Comparative Study of SPA Mud from "Bacino Idrominerario Omogeneo dei Colli Euganei (B.I.O.C.E.)-Italy" and Industrially Optimized Mud for Skin Applications

The term "Salus per aquam (SPA) therapies" refers to therapeutic pathways that includes mud therapy. The therapeutic efficacy of a peloid depends on its chemical and mineralogical composition, as well as its technological properties. Considering the increasing use of clay-based products, it becomes essential to characterize peloids from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. Therefore, this research project aimed to develop a protocol that allows characterization of the chemical-physical composition of sludges collected from different areas of the Homogeneous Euganean Hills Hydromineral Basin (B.I.O.C.E.). The study established a comparative study both between different matrices and between the same matrices at different maturation times, including also a comparison with an industrialized product, that can be used at home, which maintains the characteristics of a natural mud. This research was developed studying the pH, grain size distribution, and chemical and mineralogical composition. Peloids are characterized by a neutral/basic pH and are divided into two categories from a granulometric point of view: The chemical composition allowed observation of numerous correlations between oxides present in the samples and to quantify the presence of heavy metals. Mineralogical analysis made it possible to identify and compare the composition of each sample, also according to the maturation time. Thanks to the methods adopted, important correlations were achieved

Municipal solid waste management system: decision support through systems analysis

Thesis submitted to the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Environmental EngineeringThe present study intends to show the development of systems analysis model applied to solid waste management system, applied into AMARSUL, a solid waste management system responsible for the management of municipal solid waste produced in Setúbal peninsula, Portugal. The model developed intended to promote sustainable decision making, covering the four columns: technical, environmental, economic and social aspects. To develop the model an intensive literature review have been conducted. To simplify the discussion, the spectrum of these systems engineering models and system assessment tools was divided into two broadly-based domains associated with fourteen categories although some of them may be intertwined with each other. The first domain comprises systems engineering models including cost-benefit analysis, forecasting analysis, simulation analysis, optimization analysis, and integrated modeling system whereas the second domain introduces system assessment tools including management information systems, scenario development, material flow analysis, life cycle assessment (LCA), risk assessment, environmental impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment, socio-economic assessment, and sustainable assessment. The literature performed have indicated that sustainable assessment models have been one of the most applied into solid waste management, being methods like LCA and optimization modeling (including multicriteria decision making(MCDM)) also important systems analysis methods. These were the methods (LCA and MCDM) applied to compose the system analysis model for solid waste. The life cycle assessment have been conducted based on ISO 14040 family of norms; for multicriteria decision making there is no procedure neither guidelines, being applied analytic hierarchy process (AHP) based Fuzzy Interval technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). Multicriteria decision making have included several data from life cycle assessment to construct environmental, social and technical attributes, plus economic criteria obtained from collected data from stakeholders involved in the study. The results have shown that solutions including anaerobic digestion in mechanical biological treatment plant plus anaerobic digestion of biodegradable municipal waste from source separation, with energetic recovery of refuse derived fuel (RDF) and promoting pays-as-you-throw instrument to promote recycling targets compliance would be the best solutions to implement in AMARSUL system. The direct burning of high calorific fraction instead of RDF has not been advantageous considering all criteria, however, during LCA, the results were the reversal. Also it refers that aerobic mechanical biological treatment should be closed.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - SFRH/BD/27402/200

Proceedings of the 3rd IAGC International Conference: Water-Rock Interaction - 18 & Applied Isotope Geochemistry - 15. Cagliari, Italy, 16-21 June 2025

The third IAGC International Conference, held in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) in June 16-21, 2025, was widely attended by researchers from around the world. This resulted in the present volume of proceedings containing as many as 308 abstracts, both short and extended, distributed among 22 sessions in addition to the plenary sessions. The subjects covered in the abstracts span numerous topics in geochemistry, from low to high temperature, from frozen to hydrothermal systems, and natural and manmade environments. The conference was hosted by the Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences at the University of Cagliari (UNICA)

The Future of Radioactive Waste Governance

This Open Access book examines the radioactive waste management policies of ten European countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Most countries are in the process of planning and creating final storage solutions, while none has yet finalized this process. Over the past decades many countries have been renewing their decision-making processes and the institutions that support them. The book provides 16 lessons that may advance the future democratic decision-making process around radioactive waste management

Studio sulla gestione sostenibile delle risorse idriche: dall’analisi conoscitiva alle strategie di salvaguardia e tutela

Nell’ambito delle attività di ricerca multidisciplinari, volte a contrastare o mitigare i processi di desertificazione, un ruolo importante deve essere attribuito al tema della corretta gestione delle risorse idriche. Le pressioni di tipo antropico, legate anche alle attività produttive ed ai loro impatti (lo scarico incontrollato di reflui di varia origine, l’irrorazione di sostanze chimiche per trattamenti antiparassitari e concimazioni, il sovrasfruttamento delle acque sotterranee, i fenomeni d’intrusione di acqua marina ecc.), possono produrre un degrado di questa risorsa, rendendola inadatta ai vari usi ed in particolare a quelli più pregiati (idropotabili e ambientali). Il volume illustra e propone una metodologia di studio multidisciplinare della risorsa idrica, a scala di bacino idrografico e/o idrogeologico in ambiente mediterraneo, partendo da un caso di studio in un’area campione della Sardegna. I criteri di scelta dell’area pilota, individuata nel bacino del Calich, sono stati dettati dall’esigenza di soddisfare alcune peculiarità quali: presenza di corpi idrici superficiali (fiumi, canali, dighe ecc.), acquiferi superficiali e profondi, agglomerati urbani e attività produttive, che generano quindi usi competitivi della risorsa idrica

Mapping the Void: Landscapes of Roman Travertine Extraction

Roman Travertine is the stone of the empire, it has characterised the city of Rome, and unexpectedly conditioned the Tiburtine hinterlands. This thesis reveals the hidden scars and enduring legacies of material extraction on landscapes, centering on the ancient yet persistently exploited Roman travertine quarries near Rome. Unfolding the tension between rugged extraction sites and polished urban spaces, the study critiques architecture’s reliance on a “Western Paradox” where development and destruction coexist. It places the landscape discinpline right in the middle, an accomplice and an active actor in the consequences of material consumption, attempting to answer the question: How can the landscape discipline represent the ecological and social conflicts caused by resource extraction, and what impact does extraction have on how landscapes are understood? Through political ecology and interdisciplinary analysis, it unearths the rich ecological, historical, and political narratives surrounding travertine, attempting to reveal its consequences through a mapping project. In three sections, the research first establishes the theoritical framework, addresses Necropolitics of Extraction, exposing architecture’s detachment from the material realities of production and spotlighting the social and environmental costs of material consumption. The second section, Lapis Tiburtinus, turns to travertine itself, tracing its symbolic and structural roles across millennia, from shaping Rome’s grandeur to a globalized commodity that transformed its landscapes. The final section, Mapping Travertine Extraction, uses dynamic cartographies of water, waste, and labour to bring the invisible forces of extraction into stark relief, illustrating both local devastations and global dependencies

Gas, Water and Solid Waste Treatment Technology

This book introduces a variety of treatment technologies, such as physical, chemical, and biological methods for the treatment of gas emissions, wastewater, and solid waste. It provides a useful source of information for engineers and specialists, as well as for undergraduate and postgraduate students, in the areas of environmental science and engineering

Strategic irrigation against apple scab

Proceedings to the 15th International Conference on Organic Fruit Growing