ELECTRIC VEHICLE AND SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY: AN INNOVATIVE INTERFACE

The paper presents a concept of an innovative interaction structure for a digital electric vehicle (EV) dashboard. The structure connects interactions between vehicle, driver and traffic infrastructure, in order to help users driving in a conscious way, informing them about their performances and providing tools able to modify driving behaviour. Through the Systemic Design approach, it is possible to move from a quantitative configuration (set on consumption) to a new one set on resource optimization. The achievement is a new layout for the information visualization system designed for an electric vehicle able to communicate to the driver the environmental impact of its drive style

Determination of Kinetic and Diffusion Parameters Needed to Predict the Behavior of CaO-Based CO2 Sorbent and Sorbent-Catalyst Materials

For about 10 years, this research group has developed and utilized a particle grain model (PGM), to simulate CO2-capture carried out by CaO-based porous particles. Chemical kinetics and diffusion parameters were either taken from literature studies or fixed by fitting experimental sorption data. As recently observed, this procedure was not fully satisfactory and revealed systematic, minor discrepancies between PGM numerical results and experimental data when predicting sorbents behavior during the initial chemically controlled regime of carbonation. This work deals with the experimental determination of kinetic and diffusion parameters, utilized in the PGM, by means of straightforward thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests on small samples of materials to be evaluated for CO2 sorption and sorption-enhanced processes. To validate this procedure, the carbonation of two Ni–CaO–mayenite combined sorbent-catalyst materials (CSCMs) was studied in TGA. The experimental data so obtained were used to infer carbona..

Steam Gasification of Lignite in a Bench-Scale Fluidized-Bed Gasifier Using Olivine as Bed Material

The gasification of lignite could be a promising sustainable alternative to combustion, because it causes reduced emissions and allows the production of syngas, which is a versatile gaseous fuel that can be used for cogeneration, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, or the synthesis of other bio-fuels, such as methanol. For the safe and smooth exploitation of syngas, it is fundamental to have a high quality gas, with a high content of H2 and CO and minimum content of pollutants, such as particulate and tars. In this work, experimental tests on lignite gasification are carried out in a bench-scale fluidized-bed reactor with olivine as bed material, chosen for its catalytic properties that can enhance tar reduction. Some operating parameters were changed throughout the tests, in order to study their influence on the quality of the syngas produced, and pressure fluctuation signals were acquired to evaluate the fluidization quality and diagnose correlated sintering or the agglomeration of bed particles. The e ect of temperature and small air injections in the freeboard were investigated and evaluated in terms of the conversion eciencies, gas composition, and tar produced.The authors kindly acknowledge the financial support of the European Project LIG2LIQ (RFCS-01-2017 GA796585) co-funded by the European Commission managed Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS)

A MALDI-TOF MS approach for mammalian, human, and formula milks’ profiling

Human milk composition is dynamic, and substitute formulae are intended to mimic its protein content. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potentiality of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), followed by multivariate data analyses as a tool to analyze the peptide profiles of mammalian, human, and formula milks. Breast milk samples from women at different lactation stages (2 (n = 5), 30 (n = 6), 60 (n = 5), and 90 (n = 4) days postpartum), and milk from donkeys (n = 4), cows (n = 4), buffaloes (n = 7), goats (n = 4), ewes (n = 5), and camels (n = 2) were collected. Different brands (n = 4) of infant formulae were also analyzed. Protein content (<30 kDa) was analyzed by MS, and data were exported for statistical elaborations. The mass spectra for each milk closely clustered together, whereas different milk samples resulted in well-separated mass spectra. Human samples formed a cluster in which colostrum constituted a well-defined subcluster. None of the milk formulae correlated with animal or human milk, although they were specifically characterized and correlated well with each other. These findings propose MALDI-TOF MS milk profiling as an analytical tool to discriminate, in a blinded way, different milk types. As each formula has a distinct specificity, shifting a baby from one to another formula implies a specific proteomic exposure. These profiles may assist in milk proteomics for easiness of use and minimization of costs, suggesting that the MALDI-TOF MS pipelines may be useful for not only milk adulteration assessments but also for the characterization of banked milk specimens in pediatric clinical settings

Steam Gasification of Lignite in a Bench-Scale Fluidized-Bed Gasifier Using Olivine as Bed Material

The gasification of lignite could be a promising sustainable alternative to combustion, because it causes reduced emissions and allows the production of syngas, which is a versatile gaseous fuel that can be used for cogeneration, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, or the synthesis of other bio-fuels, such as methanol. For the safe and smooth exploitation of syngas, it is fundamental to have a high quality gas, with a high content of H₂ and CO and minimum content of pollutants, such as particulate and tars. In this work, experimental tests on lignite gasification are carried out in a bench-scale fluidized-bed reactor with olivine as bed material, chosen for its catalytic properties that can enhance tar reduction. Some operating parameters were changed throughout the tests, in order to study their influence on the quality of the syngas produced, and pressure fluctuation signals were acquired to evaluate the fluidization quality and diagnose correlated sintering or the agglomeration of bed particles. The effect of temperature and small air injections in the freeboard were investigated and evaluated in terms of the conversion efficiencies, gas composition, and tar produced

The Secondary Structure of a Major Wine Protein is Modified upon Interaction with Polyphenols

Polyphenols are an important constituent of wines and they are largely studied due to their antioxidant properties and for their effects on wine quality and stability, which is also related to their capacity to bind to proteins. The effects of some selected polyphenols, including procyanidins B1 and B2, tannic acid, quercetin, and rutin, as well as those of a total white wine procyanidin extract on the conformational properties of the major wine protein VVTL1 (Vitis vinifera Thaumatin-Like-1) were investigated by Synchrotron Radiation Circular Dichroism (SRCD). Results showed that VVTL1 interacts with polyphenols as demonstrated by the changes in the secondary (far-UV) and tertiary (near-UV) structures, which were differently affected by different polyphenols. Additionally, polyphenols modified the two melting temperatures (TM) that were found for VVTL1 (32.2 °C and 53.9 °C for the protein alone). The circular dichroism (CD) spectra in the near-UV region revealed an involvement of the aromatic side-chains of the protein in the interaction with phenolics. The data demonstrate the existence of an interaction between polyphenols and VVTL1, which results in modification of its thermal and UV denaturation pattern. This information can be useful in understanding the behavior of wine proteins in presence of polyphenols, thus giving new insights on the phenomena that are involved in wine stability

Chemical Looping Gasification for Sustainable Production of Biofuels – The CLARA Project

Within the scope of the Horizon 2020 project CLARA, a novel biomassto-biofuel process chain is being developed. The fuel production plant consists of a chemical looping gasifier for the production of a raw syngas, a gas treatment train to provide the required syngas composition for the subsequent synthesis, and a FischerTropsch (FT) reactor to covert the syngas into liquid FT-crude. This crude can then be purified and upgraded to ready-to-use second generation drop-in biofuels in existing state-of-the-art refineries. So far, various oxygen carrier materials were evaluated through lab-scale test regarding their suitability for chemical looping gasification. Ilmenite proved to be the most promising candidate and was therefore selected for further investigations. Successful test campaigns in a small CLG pilot unit supported the findings made in lab-scale units. A novel pre-treatment concept of wheat straw based on pelleting and additivation was developed, which allows for an economic decentralized production and avoids bed agglomeration in a chemical looping gasifier. Furthermore, a novel sour gas separation concept, allowing for an efficient removal of H2S from sour gases, was successfully tested at lab-scale. Based on the underlying technologies, the project partners derived an optimized process layout of the entire biomass-to-liquid chain, achieving competitive figures for the most important key performance indicators, such as attaining negative CO2 emissions and achieving an energetic fuel efficiency of 55 % for the entire process chain. The full process chain has been demonstrated within four weeks of pilot testing at the Technical University of Darmstadt. Currently, the full-chain BtL concept is being assessed by means of risk studies as well as techno-economic and environmental considerations

Predictivity of clinical, laboratory and imaging findings in diagnostic definition of palpable thyroid nodules. A multicenter prospective study

Abstract PURPOSE: To assess the role of clinical, biochemical, and morphological parameters, as added to cytology, for improving pre-surgical diagnosis of palpable thyroid nodules. METHODS: Patients with a palpable thyroid nodule were eligible if surgical intervention was indicated after a positive or suspicious for malignancy FNAC (TIR 4-5 according to the 2007 Italian SIAPEC-IAP classification), or two inconclusive FNAC at a 653 months interval, or a negative FNAC associated with one or more risk factor. Reference standard was histological malignancy diagnosis. Likelihood ratios of malignancy, sensitivity, specificity, negative (NPV), and positive predictive value (PPV) were described. Multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and logistic regression were applied. RESULTS: Cancer was found in 433/902 (48%) patients. Considering TIR4-5 only as positive cytology, specificity, and PPV were high (94 and 91%) but sensitivity and NPV were low (61 and 72%); conversely, including TIR3 among positive, sensitivity and NPV were higher (88 and 82%) while specificity and PPV decreased (52 and 63%). Ultrasonographic size 653\u2009cm was independently associated with benignity among TIR2 cases (OR of malignancy 0.37, 95% CI 0.18-0.78). In TIR3 cases the hard consistency of small nodules was associated with malignity (OR: 3.51, 95% CI 1.84-6.70, p\u2009<\u20090.001), while size alone, irrespective of consistency, was not diagnostically informative. No other significant association was found in TIR2 and TIR3. CONCLUSIONS: The combination of cytology with clinical and ultrasonographic parameters may improve diagnostic definition of palpable thyroid nodules. However, the need for innovative diagnostic tools is still high

BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine does not impact the honeymoon phase in type 1 diabetes: a case report

Type 1 diabetes (T1D), which is caused by the autoimmune destruction of insulin-secreting pancreatic beta cells, represents a high-risk category requiring COVID-19 vaccine prioritization. Although COVID-19 vaccination can lead to transient hyperglycemia (vaccination-induced hyperglycemia; ViHG), its influence on the course of the clinical remission phase of T1D (a.k.a. "honeymoon phase") is currently unknown. Recently, there has been an increasing concern that COVID-19 vaccination may trigger autoimmune phenomena. We describe the case of a 24-year-old young Italian man with T1D who received two doses of the BNT162b2 mRNA (Pfizer-BioNTech) COVID-19 vaccine during a prolonged honeymoon phase. He experienced a transient impairment in glucose control (as evidenced by continuous glucose monitoring) that was not associated with substantial changes in stimulated C-peptide levels and islet autoantibody titers. Nonetheless, large prospective studies are needed to confirm the safety and the immunometabolic impact of the BNT162b2 vaccine in T1D patients during the honeymoon phase. Thus far, T1D patients who are going to receive COVID-19 vaccination should be warned about the possible occurrence of transient ViHG and should undergo strict postvaccination surveillance

All is fish that comes to the net: metabarcoding for rapid fisheries catch assessment

Monitoring marine resource exploitation is a key activity in fisheries science and biodiversity conservation. Since research surveys are time‐consuming and costly, fishery‐dependent data (i.e. derived directly from fishing vessels) are increasingly credited with a key role in expanding the reach of ocean monitoring. Fishing vessels may be seen as widely ranging data‐collecting platforms, which could act as a fleet of sentinels for monitoring marine life, in particular exploited stocks. Here, we investigate the possibility of assessing catch composition of single hauls carried out by trawlers by applying DNA metabarcoding to the dense water draining from fishing nets just after the end of hauling operations (hereafter ‘slush’). We assess the performance of this approach in portraying β‐diversity and examining the quantitative relationship between species abundances in the catch and DNA amount in the slush (read counts generated by amplicon sequencing). We demonstrate that the assemblages identified using DNA in the slush satisfactorily mirror those returned by visual inspection of net content (about 71% of species and 86% of families of fish) and detect a strong relationship between read counts and species abundances in the catch. We therefore argue that this approach could be upscaled to serve as a powerful source of information on the structure of demersal assemblages and the impact of fisheries