Towards an Integrated Scenario Approach for Spatial Planning and Natural Hazards Mitigation

In the frame of the support to the conception, definition and implementation of European policies, the Land Management Unit of the Institute for Environment and Sustainability (Directorate General Joint Research Centre (DG-JRC) of the European Commission (EC)) is developing an integrated framework to evaluate and propose strategies for the sustainable management of the European territory. An important tool within this framework is the MOLAND (Monitoring Land Use/Cover Dynamics) model for urban and regional growth forecast. The model is part of an integrated methodology based on a set of spatial planning tools that can be used for assessing, monitoring and modelling the development of urban and regional environments. The MOLAND model has been specifically designed for urban and regional development assessment. It is based on a spatial dynamics bottom-up approach. The model takes as input several georeferenced datasets for the future simulation of urban areas and/or regions. Thus, future urban scenarios can be produced by taking into account land use development trends, population growth, socio-economic factors and spatial planning policies. Urban simulations offer a useful approach to understanding the consequences of current spatial planning policies. Among other causes the analysis of urban areas and their development has particular relevance because of their growing exposure to natural hazards, particularly floods and forest fires. Inappropriate regional and urban planning can exacerbate the negative effects of natural hazards. On the other hand, good land management and planning practices, including appropriate land use and development control in flood-prone areas, represent suitable non-structural solutions to minimise flood damage. The effects of urban and regional development on flood risk should be evaluated to support both flood protection and spatial planning policies. This work supports policies such as the 6th Environment Action Program (Thematic Strategy on the Urban Environment; Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection), the forthcoming Floods Directive “Reducing the risks of floods in Europe”, the ESPON (European Spatial Planning Observation Network) programme, and the growing awareness at local level amongst spatial policy-makers of the close connections between world-wide land degradation and global change, as underpinned by the European Climate Change Programme. The new regulations for renewed Structural Funds and instruments for the period 2007-2013, adopted by the EC on 14 July 2004, foresee specific measures for “developing plans and measures to prevent and cope with natural risks”.JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

Erroneous intra-articular injection of gadolinium solution at 0.5 mol/l concentration: a case report

Magnetic Resonance arthrography is considered the gold standard imaging technique for the study of shoulder instability and tendon tears

Processing plants and technologies for a sustainable Mediterranean food chain

This book is focused on the challenges to implement sustainability in diverse contexts such as agribusiness, natural resource systems and new technologies. The experiences made by the researchers of the School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Science (SAFE) of the University of Basilicata offer a wide and multidisciplinary approach to the identification and testing of different solutions tailored to the economic, social and environmental characteristics of the region and the surrounding areas. Basilicata’s productive system is mainly based on activities related to the agricultural sector and exploitation of natural resources but it has seen, in recent years, an industrial development driven by the discovery of oil fields. SAFE research took up the challenge posed by market competition to create value through the sustainable use of renewable and non-renewable resources of the territory. Moreover, due to its unique geographical position in the middle of the Mediterranean basin, Basilicata is an excellent “open sky” laboratory for testing sustainable solutions adaptable to other Mediterranean areas. This collection of multidisciplinary case studies and research experiences from SAFE researchers and their scientific partners is a stimulating contribution to the debate on the development of sustainable techniques, methods and applications for the Mediterranean regions

An Assessment of Weather-Related Risks in Europe: Maps of Flood and Drought Risks

This technical report describes the adopted methodology and the outputs produced during the first 18 months of life of the 'ADAM' project. ADAM (Adaptation and Mitigation Strategies: Supporting European Climate Policy) is an Integrated Project financed under thematic priority 'Global Change and Ecosystems' of the 6th framework programme (for further information, see www.adam.info) The task 'A2.1 - An assessment of weather-related risks in Europe' has the following main objective: 'Quantify and map weather-related extreme-event risks to public and private capital assets, human lives, and agriculture/forestry/tourism, and identify high-risk areas (hot spots) on which to focus more detailed analysis.' The key innovative aspects of the work herein presented are manifold: - the quantification of the probabilistic monetary impact of extreme events; - the combined use of modelling techniques and of observed data to supply the lack of information at the various scales of relevance of the study; - the estimation of uncertainty arising from limitations in data availability and modelling assumptions; - the geographical scale (continental) of the exercise. The key outputs of task A2.1 are digital maps of risks from natural extremes at European scale identifying monetary/economic losses. The maps are furnished as input to other tasks of package A2 for successive modelling exercises and analysis. As defined in the project work-plan, task A.21 has duration of 24 months. The 18-month deliverables are maps of flood and drought risks. The report focuses on inland river flood damage to properties and infrastructures and on climatic stresses (drought and heat waves) in agriculture. Population exposure has only been addressed in a partial study and it's therefore not included in the final monetary losses assessment. The work on floods has been carried out by the Institute for Environment and Sustainability of the Joint Research Centre; the work on droughts and heat waves by the Department of Agronomy and Land Management - University of Florence. The methodology is centred on the risk paradigm of the research community. The risk is defined as a product of hazard, exposure and vulnerability where: - Hazard is the threatening natural event including its probability/magnitude of occurrence; - Exposure is the values/humans that are present at the location related to a given event; - Vulnerability is the lack of resistance to damaging/destructive forces (damage function). This definition has been applied to extreme events such as floods and heat/water stresses, with the due adjustments required by data availability and specific modelling techniques.JRC.H.7-Land management and natural hazard

COVID-19 VACCINES: EVIDENCE, CHALLENGES AND THE FUTURE

Through an unprecedented research and development process, in early 2021, just one year after the COVID-19 pandemic started devastating the world, there are several vaccines commercially available or in advanced phase of testing, each with its own characteristics and challenges. For the first time in the history of vaccination, a global immunization programme has started at a time of intense pandemic activity characterized by high virus transmission, facilitating selection of variants potentially able to escape the vaccine-induced antibody response. The reality is that one cannot rely on a single vaccine when dealing with a pandemic emergency: the urgent need of billions of doses clashes with the production capacity of the pharmaceutical industry. There is therefore no ideal vaccine, but there are many good vaccines to be used immediately. Today,  the international debate about COVID-19 vaccines is the hottest topic in global health whether it relates to technical and scientific issues or to the ethical aspects of access to vaccinations for all. This article aims at reviewing the status of vaccines that are used, or about to be used, in immunization campaigns worldwide

The IT4NUEVOO Project

Ogni produttore di olio extravergine di oliva (EVOO) è consapevole che la qualità dell’olio prodotto ha un ruolo chiave nella strategia per incoraggiare nuove occasioni di consumo e affrontare le sfide di un mercato globale. Tuttavia, allo stato attuale, in tutti i Paesi produttori è sensibilmente più alta la quantità di olio vergine di oliva (VOO) di scarsa qualità piuttosto che di EVOO. La dimensione aziendale degli oleifici rende molto difficile l'investimento nella ricerca per sviluppare tecnologie, protocolli di estrazione o nuovi prodotti. Dall'altra parte, il consumatore richiede un prodotto di alta qualità con elevate caratteristiche salutistiche e possibilmente nutraceutiche. Per questo motivo diversi studi e progetti sono stati realizzati per sviluppare e verificare come la singola operazione e/o tecnologia di processo influenzano l’estrazione e la qualità dell'olio di oliva. Tuttavia, tutti i risultati sono influenzati da un'elevata variabilità, come molti Autori riportano, a causa di molteplici fattori esterni. Pertanto, il legame intercorrente fra le singole operazioni tecnologiche con la qualità e le proprietà salutari risultano, fino ad ora, non ben definiti a causa di fattori incontrollati. Il progetto IT4NUEVOO ha avuto come obiettivo l'ottimizzazione del processo di estrazione al fine di migliorare la resa di estrazione e delle sostanze antiossidanti presenti nelle olive. La ricerca industriale e lo sviluppo sperimentale del progetto sono stati finalizzati allo sviluppo di un nuovo prodotto alimentare denominato NUEVOO ed alla messa a punto di un protocollo di produzione che integri il ciclo produttivo con nuove macchine per migliorare l’estrazione dei composti polifenolici.Every producer of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is aware that the quality of the oil produced plays a key role in the strategy aiming to encourage new consumption opportunities and to face the challenges of a global market. However, at present, in all producing countries the amount of poor-quality virgin olive oil (VOO) is significantly higher than EVOO. The company size of the oil mills makes it very difficult to invest in research to develop technologies, extraction protocols or new products. On the other hand, the consumer requires a high-quality product with high health and possibly nutraceutical characteristics. For this reason, several studies and projects have been carried out to develop and verify how the single operation and/or process technology affects the extraction and quality of olive oil. However, all results are influenced by a high variability, as many authors report, due to several external factors. Therefore, the link between the individual technological operations with the quality and health properties is, until now, not well defined due to uncontrolled factors. The IT4NUEVOO project aimed to optimise the extraction process in order to improve the extraction yield and the antioxidant substances present in the oil. The industrial and experimental research of the project were aimed to the development of a new food product called NUEVOO and of a new production protocol integrating the production cycle with new machines in order to improve the polyphenolic compounds extraction

A Low-Temperature and Low-Pressure Distillation Plant for Dairy Wastewater

The paper investigates an alternative treatment plant for the typical wastewater effluent of a cheese-making industry, mainly composed of acid or sweet whey mixed with washing water. Two variable parameters have been considered during the tests: four treatment temperatures (39, 46, 53 and 60 °C) and three solid content values (30%, 50% and 70%) of the concentrated product. The minimum and maximum values of the removal efficiency (pollutant amount into concentrate related to raw whey) range from 94.6% to 97.7% for conductivity, from 98.3% to 99.5% for BOD5, from 98.7% to 99.6% for COD and from 98.2% to 99.3% for Total Nitrogen. The plant capacity ranges from about 2 L/h (at 39 °C) to 6 L/h (at 60 °C) of processed whey. On the basis of the experimental findings, the proposed purification technology has demonstrated its suitability both to purify the effluent wastewater and to recover high-quality products (e.g., whey protein concentrate, lactose), thanks to its low thermal damage on the treated product and to its relatively low energy consumption from 0.4 kWh/L (at 60 °C) to 1.0 kWh/L (at 39 °C) of processed whey, with a Coefficient of Performance from approximately 0.6 up to 1.5

Postharvest Technologies of Fresh Citrus Fruit: Advances and Recent Developments for the Loss Reduction during Handling and Storage

Citrus spp. are spread mainly in the Mediterranean basin and represent the largest fruit source for human consumption. Postharvest losses, mainly due to diseases and metabolic disorders of fruits, can cause severe wastage, reaching 30 to 50% of the total production. Preserving quality and extending shelf life are essential objectives for postharvest technological innovation, determined by the proper handling, treatment, storage and transport of harvested produce. Moreover, the application of novel sustainable strategies is critical for the reduction of synthetic fungicide residues on fruit surfaces and the impact on the environment caused by waste disposal of fungicides. In this article, the current knowledge about the safest and more sustainable strategies, as well as advanced postharvest handling and storage technologies, will be critically reviewed

Climate change and safety at work with ionizing radiations

The accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO’s) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP) has been one of the dominant topic in nuclear safety and it has brought new attention on the matter of accidents in NPPs due to external events related to natural causes. Climate change has risen new risks and the growing probability of extreme external events has increased exposure and vulnerability of workers in the nuclear sector. However extreme natural events are a threat not only to NPPs but to all facilities dealing with radioactive material and in an emergency scenario they can affect the effectiveness and implementation of safety devices and procedures and also prevent communications, causing delays in the readiness of response. It is clear that adaptation strategies are necessary to cope with emerging changes in climate and a new nuclear safety culture is growing, that addresses accidents initiated not only by internal but also by external events.