Vineyard pruning residues pellets for use in domestic appliances: A quality assessment according to the EN ISO 17225

Nowadays many types of biomass are studied to satisfy the increased demand of renewable energy based on pellet combustion. However, only a few biomasses fulfil the high quality standard required for pellet used in domestic appliances. European and International standards in force define this quality of non-industrial use of pellets in term of the origin of biomass, physical, mechanical and chemical parameters. Vineyard residues are a worldwide potential source of energy but their compliance to be used in domestic pellet stoves has not been yet proven according to the new standards in force. In order to meet this need, this study makes an exhaustive characterisation of vineyard based pellets manufactured from residues of Prosecco (Glera variety) vineyards, assessing both the quality of biofuel and its behaviour during combustion in a domestic pellet stove. The quality of biofuel has been evaluated according to the in force standards for wood and non-woody pellets. The results show that vineyard pellets do not meet the type B quality standards required for non-industrial use of wood pellet mainly because of the high amount of ash content (&gt;2%) and the high amount of copper (&gt;10 ppm) but they fulfil the specifications of the type B non-woody pellets. Furthermore, during combustion test of vineyard-based pellet the high emission of CO indicates incomplete combustion; and vineyard- based pellet NOx emissions are more than double compared to those obtained during the control tests, confirming that the analysed vineyard-based pellets are unsuitable, as they are, for use in traditional pellet stoves.</jats:p

Re-evaluating Adjuvant Breast Cancer Trials: Assessing Hormone Receptor Status by Immunohistochemical Versus Extraction Assays

Background: Tumor levels of steroid hormone receptors, a factor used to select adjuvant treatment for early-stage breast cancer, are currently determined with immunohistochemical assays. These assays have a discordance of 10%-30% with previously used extraction assays. We assessed the concordance and predictive value of hormone receptor status as determined by immunohistochemical and extraction assays on specimens from International Breast Cancer Study Group Trials VIII and IX. These trials predominantly used extraction assays and compared adjuvant chemoendocrine therapy with endocrine therapy alone among pre- and postmenopausal patients with lymph node-negative breast cancer. Trial conclusions were that combination therapy provided a benefit to pre- and postmenopausal patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors but not to ER-positive postmenopausal patients. ER-positive premenopausal patients required further study. Methods: Tumor specimens from 571 premenopausal and 976 postmenopausal patients on which extraction assays had determined ER and progesterone receptor (PgR) levels before randomization from October 1, 1988, through October 1, 1999, were re-evaluated with an immunohistochemical assay in a central pathology laboratory. The endpoint was disease-free survival. Hazard ratios of recurrence or death for treatment comparisons were estimated with Cox proportional hazards regression models, and discriminatory ability was evaluated with the c index. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: Concordance of hormone receptor status determined by both assays ranged from 74% (κ = 0.48) for PgR among postmenopausal patients to 88% (κ = 0.66) for ER in postmenopausal patients. Hazard ratio estimates were similar for the association between disease-free survival and ER status (among all patients) or PgR status (among postmenopausal patients) as determined by the two methods. However, among premenopausal patients treated with endocrine therapy alone, the discriminatory ability of PgR status as determined by immunohistochemical assay was statistically significantly better (c index = 0.60 versus 0.51; P = .003) than that determined by extraction assay, and so immunohistochemically determined PgR status could predict disease-free survival. Conclusions: Trial conclusions in which ER status (for all patients) or PgR status (for postmenopausal patients) was determined by immunohistochemical assay supported those determined by extraction assays. However, among premenopausal patients, trial conclusions drawn from PgR status differed—immunohistochemically determined PgR status could predict response to endocrine therapy, unlike that determined by the extraction assa

The automatized workflow of a radiation oncology department: a complete integration of the oncology information system MOSAIQ with hospital information system

OBJECTIVE: To fully integrate the OIS (MOSAIQ by Elekta) and the Hospital Information System (HIS) to increase efficiency, quality, and safety of care and to streamline clinical workflows and processes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: More than 25 dedicated staff members are currently working at the Radiotherapy Unit of our Institute and treat approximately 700 patients per year with two Elekta linear accelerators. Within a radiation treatment, there is a series of clinical and organizational steps that it is indispensable to do to avoid errors or excessive resource consumption. Our experience has led to the creation of structured workflows to overcome these critical issues through the optimization and integration of HIS and OIS, respectively our hospital and our Radiotherapy Unit data management systems. RESULTS: Through the integration of the main management programs available and the creation of standardized therapeutic paths based on logistical and clinical needs, we managed to optimize both quality of care and accounting services provided. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of different operating systems and the definition of standardized steps within the workflow has led to the abolition of unnecessary operations, making it easier to manage patients’ care and prescription accounting. Furthermore, clinical records have become more readily and accessible by health care providers of our unit. All this translates into a decreased risk of misinformation, or time loss due to bureaucratic and organizational issues, therefore, allowing a significant increase in staff efficiency

Key factors influencing productivity of whole-tree ground-based felling equipment commonly used in the pacific northwest

Around the globe, various types of forest machinery are employed to conduct fully mechanized ground-based timber harvesting. In the Pacific Northwest, the whole-tree harvesting method remains dominant. While machine-integrated sensors provide accurate productivity information in the cut-to-length harvesting method, productivity is more complicated to determine in whole-tree harvesting. This literature review compiles and analyses the existing evidence on productivity studies of feller–bunchers and feller–directors in a systematic manner and identifies the factors influencing machine productivity. The study indicates that most of the previous research was conducted in North America, particularly in Canada. It was also found that a considerable portion of the literature lacked statistical analysis. Piece size, slope, and silvicultural treatment were the most commonly studied productivity-influencing factors among the results. Although there is already a general understanding of the most important factors influencing the productivity of feller–bunchers and feller–directors, there is still a lack of accurate measurement and isolation of individual factors to facilitate accurate productivity prediction. Further research is needed for the development of systems that use integrated sensors capable of estimating machine productivity. Updated productivity models will optimize harvesting operations, identify bottlenecks, and allow for the development of best practices

Planning logging systems through site analysis

Strategic planning for defining forest operations and for supporting decision on the most appropriate forest equipments requires deep spatial analyses, especially in mountains condition where the terrain and the forest stand characteristics change in space and in time. In order to evaluate the feasibility of forest logging systems and consequently the estimation of their costs, a rough quantitative analysis was carried out by GIS models. Since these GIS models, previously developed, have evidenced different drawbacks associated to the low quality of digital data representing forest stand volume, forest road network and terrain characteristics, topographic surveys were used in order to reduce the gap of the quality of the digital data. In fact, it was evidenced that spatial methods for enhancing the resolution and accuracy of the model must require the support of global positioning analysis, in order to reduce so inappropriate rough results and consequently to improve the quality of the spatial investigation. Topographic surveys with global positioning equipments were tested as primary investigations to link field site data to the digital spatial model. With the aim to define a Decision Support System apt to be an useful tool for planning forest operations, a methodology based on the integration between a GIS model and field surveys was developed in a northern Italian alpine district

3D Printing of Hierarchically Porous Lattice Structures Based on Åkermanite Glass Microspheres and Reactive Silicone Binder

The present study illustrates the manufacturing method of hierarchically porous 3D scaffolds based on åkermanite as a promising bioceramic for stereolithography. The macroporosity was designed by implementing 3D models corresponding to different lattice structures (cubic, diamond, Kelvin, and Kagome). To obtain micro-scale porosity, flame synthesized glass microbeads with 10 wt% of silicone resins were utilized to fabricate green scaffolds, later converted into targeted bioceramic phase by firing at 1100◦C in air. No chemical reaction between the glass microspheres, crystallizing into åkermanite, and silica deriving from silicone oxidation was observed upon heat treatment. Silica acted as a binder between the adjacent microspheres, enhancing the creation of microporosity, as documented by XRD, and SEM coupled with EDX analysis. The formation of ‘spongy’ struts was confirmed by infiltration with Rhodamine B solution. The compressive strength of the sintered porous scaffolds was up to 0.7 MPa with the porosity of 68–84%

Cable tensile forces associated to winch design in tethered harvesting operations: A case study from the pacific north west

Cable tensile forces in winch-assist harvesting have been investigated in order to assess the safety concerns of the technology. However, the literature is lacking, particularly in regards to the impact of winch design. In this study, a Summit Winch Assist tethering a feller-director on ground slopes up to 77% was monitored for four days. The cable tensile forces were simultaneously recorded at the harvesting and anchor machine at a frequency of 100 Hz. Cameras and GNSS devices enabled a time study of the operations and the recording of machine positions. Winch functionality and design were disclosed by the manufacturer and used for the interpretation of the results. The cable tensile forces reached 296 kN at the harvesting machine and 260 kN at the anchor machine. The slow negotiation of obstacles while moving downhill recorded the highest peaks, mainly due to threshold settings of the winch in the brake system activation. Lower but significant peaks were also recorded during stationary work tasks. The peaks, however, were limited to a few events and never exceeded the endurance limit of the cable. Overall, the study confirmed recent findings in cable tensile force analysis of active winch-assist operations and provided evidence of the underlaying mechanisms that contribute to cable tensile forces

Comparison of biomass feedstock supply and demand in Northeast Italy

This study uses Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to estimate woody biomass supply and demand in Northeast Italy. Demand is estimated using census data on boilers and supply calculations are derived from data on timber harvests and mill operations. The analysis is done with GIS using Large Scale Analysis at a broader resolution (for the entire region) and Small Scale Analysis at a \ufb01ner resolution (for the Primiero valley only), with added information on tree species, road networks and logging systems. From large scale analysis demand results to be about 163 000 MWh, corresponding to about 71 000 tonnes per year of fuel, with a moisture content of 50 percent. As shown by results from a small scale analysis, the Primiero valley has a de\ufb01cit of 21 400 MWh. A more thorough analysis shows that 93 percent of logging operations can be performed with cable cranes and that high quality chips derived from forest biomass amount to only 335 MWh of energy (20 percent of the total). The de\ufb01cit calculated at a small scale con\ufb01rms the value obtained in the large scale calculation. Analysis of the demand-supply balance will be helpful for decision makers and politicians and should be taken into account when allocating subsidies for new boilers or district heatin

Evaluation of the manufacturing of desk and stringer boards for wood pallets production by discrete event simulation

Deck and stringer boards\u2019 manufacturing for wood pallet production requires complex management due to the variability of the logs used as raw material. An analysis was carried out on a representative sawmill in north-eastern Italy; the manufacturing line was composed of a band-saw, a cut-saw and a multi circular saw machine connected by rollers and belts conveyors provided with buffers. A discrete event simulation model was built in order to investigate the possible in\ufb02uence of the variability of log diameter and of the productive layout on the actual production level. The simulations showed that the major advantage could come from an improvement in the layout, identifying the cut-saw machine as the main bottleneck of the manufacturing line. By adopting a different cutsaw machine, the productivity of the manufacturing line could increase up to+ 56% in the daily production of deck and stringer boards showing an increased daily productive time of + 13%. The effects of this change are evident especially for log diameters lower than 65 c