New Technologies for Ecosystem Analysis Planning and Management

Planning the rural environment is one of the most intriguing examples of technical challenge where a multi-disciplinary approach plays a crucial role. The agricultural production, both food and non-food, the social role of rural settlements, the state and diffusion of the infrastructural networks, the rural architectonic heritage that in many countries constitutes a major positive value, should be appropriately considered and sinergically interlaced for a sound planning of agricultural biosystems. Human activities impose a transformation of the extra-urban land that may lead to the modification of the frail equilibrium of whole ecosystems. Sound planning strategies should be therefore pursued, employing a multidisciplinary approach that should take into account geographical, environmental and landscape factors as variables interacting among themselves and with the social and economic aspects. In order to simultaneously analyse all these properties, tools able to manage, interpret and integrate several data are necessary

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Efficientamento dei sistemi di digestione anaerobica

Obiettivo generale della ricerca è la realizzazione di un reattore anaerobico sperimentale che, al fine di incrementare il livello termico complessivo, verrà realizzato all'interno di una serra dotata di un impianto di recupero del calore attraverso scambiatori che permettano il controllo delle temperature interne. Il circuito sarà realizzato col fine di conseguire una accelerazione dei processi di idrolisi e acidogenesi, di acetogenesi e di metanogenesi a carico della frazione liquida del rifiuto organico proveniente dalla raccolta differenziata dei rifiuti urbani di piccole e grandi utenze. Il recupero di calore sarà favorito anche dalla combustione del biogas e dalla sezione di compostaggio. Nella prima fase della ricerca, sono stati simulati gli andamenti dei processi di digestione anaerobica, che vengono qui presentati. Le simulazioni condotte hanno permesso di evidenziare una maggiore efficienza del processo di digestione condotto a 48°C. L'efficienza è stata determinata in ordine agli aspetti quantitativi della produzione del biogas. Sulla base di tali risultati preliminare si potrà quindi procedere con la realizzazione dell'impianto pilota, provvisto anche di una sezione per il compostaggio della matrice pre-lavorata e digestata, con il quale si potrà monitorare la produzione e la qualità del biogas in presenza di condizionamenti appositamente predisposti in un ambiente termofilo

Substrate additive for biological depuration.

The study presents the results of testing of a substrate liquid added to a pre-existing system of biological filtration process air of a composting plant. The substrate under test is a mixture of micro and macro nutrients useful to improve the efficiency of degradation in the cases of degradable pollutants from microbial metabolism in the presence of a ratio C : N : P equal to 200 : 10 : 1. The tests were conducted in the field by applying the substrate in liquid form to a biofilter present in a plant for composting. The biofilter involved in the trial receives the effluent gases captured from the section of accelerated bio-oxidation system. The distribution of the substrate was carried out manually above the filter surface and the quantity of substrate used has been established in relation to the pollutant load input to the garrison to environmental and chemical-physical characteristics of the filter material. The effect of the use of the substrate was evaluated in terms of concentration of microorganisms in a cm3 of filter material and the method used for this measurement was that established by Standard EN ISO 6222 of 1999