Explosion Behavior of Ethanol-Ethyl Acetate/Air Mixtures

Alcohol-ester mixtures and, among them, ethanol-ethyl acetate mixtures are widely used as solvents in the packaging industry. For the safe use of such mixtures, it is essential to characterize their explosion behavior. Specifically, knowledge is required about maximum pressure and the maximum rate of pressure rise (i.e., the deflagration index), which are among the most important parameters for the assessment of process hazards and the safe design of process equipment. To this aim, in this work, closed-vessel explosion tests were carried out for an ethanol-ethyl acetate composition (mole fraction of ethanol in ethanol + ethyl acetate equal to 0.62) of interest to the packaging industry, varying the fuel/air equivalence ratio from 1.0 to 1.7. Tests were also extended to ethanol/air and ethyl acetate/air to quantify the effects of the possible interaction between the two fuels in the mixture. All tests started from 25°C and 1 bar. Experimental results show that, as the fuel equivalence ratio is increased, a transition occurs from a regime in which synergistic effects arise making the explosion behavior of ethanol-ethyl acetate more severe (i.e., making the rate of explosion pressure rise of ethanol-ethyl acetate higher) than both ethanol and ethyl acetate, to a regime in which, as a result of a completely different interaction between ethanol and ethyl acetate, the explosion behavior of their mixture is less severe than both the individual components. The maximum rate of pressure rise falls within an intermediate regime in which non-linear interaction effects substantially disappear and, thus, the value of deflagration index for the mixture can be obtained by averaging the values of the two fuels according to their molar proportions

COVID-19 related lockdown: a trigger from the pre-melancholic phase to catatonia and depression, a case report of a 59 year-old man

Background: The pre-melancholic model described by Tellenbach may provide a common model for understanding the psychological implications of the lockdown. In this case report, we describe a rare catatonic status as a psychological implication linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, a really unique global situation. Case presentation: B is a 59 year-old man with mute psychiatric anamnesis whose mother suffered from a major depressive disorder. As the lockdown began, he started to develop concerns about his family’s economic condition. According to his wife, he could see no end to the epidemic and no future at all. Moving from this, he started to show a severe and rapidly progressive depression and to develop mood congruent delusions. In addition, he had increasing anhedonia, apathy, starvation and insomnia. This turned in the end into a catatonic-like state, along with a deep desire to die. Admitted to the psychiatry ward in a state of mutism, he was discharged after 15 days with a diagnosis of “Major depressive disorder, single severe episode with no psychotic behavior”. He was treated with Sertraline, Olanzapine and Lorazepam. Conclusions: Our aim is to draw attention to the effect of the lockdown upon a Tellenbach-like personality structure. Identifying this type of pre-morbid personality structure could help clinicians understand and treat some cases of patients with severe major depressive disorders elicited by the COVID-19 pandemic

Experimental Study of Wind Flow in a Street Canyon between High-Rise Buildings Using PIV

In recent years there have been several occasions of failure of non-buildings such as billboard towers and pedestrian bridges around high-rise areas in urban Indonesia. Most cases did not occur during any particular high-speed wind gusts but rather during normal wind speed. This research aimed to show the increase in wind load for structures built between high-rise buildings. A simplified cluster of 4 symmetrical high-rise building was investigated. The study used a wind tunnel and a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) device in the experiment. Several angles of attack and also different distances between buildings were investigated to see the impact of these parameters on the wind flow between the buildings. Wind flow experiences an interaction flow in all central areas, which translates into an increase in speed. The change in distance between buildings changes the behavior of the flow in the cross area while a change in the angle of attack of the wind does not influence the amplification factor. The results show that there was an increase from 7 to 44% in wind speed due to the street canyons and that the highest amplification occurred with an angle of attack of 0°

The role of new technologies to prevent suicide in adolescence. a systematic review of the literature

Background and objectives: Suicide in adolescents represents a major public health concern. To date, a growing number of suicide preventive strategies based on the use of new technologies are emerging. We aimed to provide an overview of the present literature on the use of new technologies in adolescent suicide prevention. Materials and methods: An electronic search was run using the following keywords: Technology OR Technologies OR APP OR Application OR mobile application) AND (Adolescent OR youth OR puberty) AND (Suicid* OR Self-harm OR self-destruction). Inclusion criteria were: English language, published in a peer-reviewed journal, suicide prevention with the use of new technologies among adolescents. Results: Our search strategy yielded a total of 12 studies on the use of telemedicine, 7 on mobile applications, and 3 on language detection. We also found heterogeneity regarding the study design: 3 are randomized controlled trials (RCT), 13 are open-label single group trials, 2 are randomized studies, and 1 is a cross-sectional study. Telemedicine was the most adopted tool, especially web-based approaches. Mobile applications mostly focused on screening of depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation, and for clinical monitoring through the use of text messages. Although telepsychiatry and mobile applications can provide a fast and safe tool, supporting and preceding a face-to-face clinical assessment, only a few studies demonstrated efficacy in preventing suicide among adolescents through the use of these interventions. Some studies suggested algorithms able to recognize people at risk of suicide from the exploration of the language on social media posts. Conclusions: New technologies were found to be well accepted and tolerated supports for suicide prevention in adolescents. However, to date, few data support the use of such interventions in clinical practice and preventive strategies. Further studies are needed to test their efficacy in suicide prevention among adolescents and young adults

Opening the horizons of clinical reasoning to qualitative research

Clinical Reasoning (CR) is an important aspect of health professional education and effective prac-tice. It is a complex series of factors and cognitive functions, involving higher-level thinking to define prob-lems, examine the evidence and then making decisions and choices to improve the patient\u2019s physiological and psycho-social state.CR consists of 3 interconnected and interdependent sub-processes: clinical experience and clinical context and Evidence-Based Practice. This essay focuses on the opportunities that Qualitative Research offers during the CR process when the doctor finds the evidence to address a patient\u2019s health problem. Clini-cians are often faced with questions that randomized clinical trials or systematic reviews of efficacy studies can-not answer. For this reason, we considered it necessary to offer an expanded view of the process of interpretation of the scientific literature used in daily clinical practice through the complex process of Clinical Reasoning, through the use of studies conducted with qualitative methods, which are able to respond to a different range of clinical questions, and to support studies based on the effectiveness of treatments

Issues of “Standard” explosion tests for non-spherical dusts

Measurements of the flammability and explosion parameters for non-spherical dusts are performed according to standard procedures in standard explosion equipment developed and tested for spherical dusts. Studies have shown that the standard procedures and equipment applied to spherical particles suffer from many issues: control of the turbulence level, non-uniform dust dispersion, and particle fragmentation due to the injection system. The applicability of the standard procedures and equipment to non-spherical particles is still an open issue. In this work, we have investigated, via CFD simulations, the distribution of turbulence and dust concentration in the standard 20 l spherical vessel for non-spherical particles. Results have shown that a higher turbulence level and a higher amount of dust actually fed into the vessel are reached with respect to spherical particles

Kinetic flow performance in nozzles Final report

Engine performance and kinetic flow performance in nozzles using four space storable propellant combination

Enteropatia proliferativa da Lawsonia intracellularis nel suino

L\u2019enteropatia proliferativa del suino (proliferative enteropathy - PE), denominata anche ileite, \ue8 causata da Lawsonia intracellularis, un batterio intracellulare obbligato. La PE \ue8 una patologia a trasmissione oro-fecale che si manifesta soprattutto nella fase di magronaggio ed \ue8 responsabile di consistenti perdite economiche negli allevamenti intensivi. I danni economici sono causati dalla riduzione dell\u2019incremento ponderale e dell\u2019indice di conversione dell\u2019alimento e dall\u2019aumento della mortalit\ue0 e dei soggetti di scarto. La PE \ue8 endemica in numerosi Paesi con prevalenze di aziende ed animali infetti che, in Europa, superano il 90% e il 40%, rispettivamente. Nel suino, la patologia \ue8 caratterizzata da un ispessimento della mucosa intestinale dovuto alla proliferazione incontrollata delle cellule delle cripte intestinali accompagnata dall\u2019inibizione, ad opera di L. intracellularis, della maturazione e della differenziazione delle cellule caliciformi secretorie e delle cellule assorbenti. La conseguenza inevitabile \ue8 la riduzione dell\u2019assorbimento dei nutrienti e la perdita di aminoacidi e proteine nel lume intestinale, con conseguente diarrea. La PE si manifesta con due forme cliniche principali: 1) la forma acuta (enteropatia proliferativa emorragica - PHE) che si osserva principalmente in animali dai 4 ai 12 mesi d\u2019et\ue0, caratterizzata da una diarrea sanguinolenta e da elevata mortalit\ue0 (fino al 50%) e, 2) la forma cronica (adenomatosi intestinale - PIA) che colpisce suini dalle 6 alle 20 settimane d\u2019et\ue0, e il cui sintomo principale \ue8 rappresentato da una diarrea con feci pastose. Sono state descritte anche altre due forme cliniche a bassa incidenza: a) l\u2019enterite necrotica (NE), espressione di una forma di enteropatia proliferativa cronica complicata da infezioni secondarie che esita in un\u2019estesa necrosi coagulativa dell\u2019epitelio intestinale e, b) l\u2019ileite regionale (RI), risultante dalla guarigione delle lesioni dovute a NE e caratterizzata da deposizione di tessuto di granulazione e ispessimento della tonaca muscolare. La diagnosi indiretta, che viene generalmente eseguita utilizzando un test ELISA, consente di valutare l\u2019eventuale esposizione dei suini a L. intracellularis, mentre la diagnosi diretta (realizzata impiegando test biomolecolari qualitativi: PCR o quantitativi: qPCR, immunoistochimica - IHC) permette di valutare se l\u2019infezione \ue8 in atto. Analogamente a quanto accade per altre forme patologiche del suino, la semplice messa in evidenza di L. intracellularis nelle feci non rappresenta un criterio diagnostico valido nei confronti di PE. La corretta procedura diagnostica prevede la quantificazione del numero di microrganismi/grammo di feci e la messa in evidenza di L. intracellularis all\u2019interno delle lesioni intestinali. La profilassi e il controllo si basano sull\u2019applicazione di rigide misure di lavaggio e disinfezione che consentono di ridurre la contaminazione ambientale tra un ciclo produttivo e l\u2019altro e l\u2019applicazione di misure di biosicurezza interna. Particolare attenzione va riservata all\u2019alimentazione, che dovrebbe garantire l\u2019equilibrio della microflora intestinale tramite un corretto rapporto tra proteina altamente digeribile e frazione di fibra, con il supporto di integratori probiotici e prebiotici. In una logica di uso consapevole del farmaco, la somministrazione di massa di antibiotici durante la fase critica del magronaggio dovrebbe essere limitata ai soli gruppi con sintomatologia clinica, implementando invece la profilassi vaccinale.Porcine Proliferative Enteropathy (PE or ileitis) is an infectious enteric disease caused by the intracellular pathogen Lawsonia intracellularis (LI). PE is endemic in many countries and causes severe economic losses in swine production system worldwide due to reduction of daily weight gain, reduction of feed conversion ratio and increase of mortality and swine waste. In Europe, the prevalence of infected farms and infected animals is more than 90% and 40%, respectively. In PE, intestinal mucosa is thickened by uncontrolled proliferation of intestinal crypt cells while secretory cells and absorbent cells are decreased in number because LI prevents their maturation. Diarrhea is the consequence, due to reduced absorption and loss of amino acid and protein in intestinal lumen. Clinical forms are divided into acute (proliferative hemorrhagic enteropathy - PHE) and chronic form (porcine intestinal adenomatosis - PIA). Acute form affects animals from 4 to 12 weeks of age and is characterized by high mortality (>50%) and hemorrhagic diarrhea. Chronic form affects swine of 6-20 weeks of age and is characterized by pasty diarrhea. Based on morphological findings, two other forms are reported: necrotic enteritis (NE) and regional ileitis (RI). The first is a chronic form complicated by secondary infection that result in coagulative necrosis of intestinal epithelium. Healing of necrotic enteritis lesions results in both thickening of muscular layer of intestinal wall and granulation tissue deposition, both of which are typical findings of RI. Indirect diagnosis (e.g. ELISA) assess the exposure to L. intracellularis while direct diagnosis (PCR, qPCR, Immunohistochemistry -IHC) assess the current infection. Effective diagnosis is obtained comparing quantitation of microorganism/gram of feces with the detection of L. intracellularis within intestinal lesion. Prophylaxis and control of proliferative enteropathy are based on biosecurity measures combined with strict washing and disinfection measures to reduce environmental contamination. Proper nutrition management helps to ensure the balance of intestinal microflora by the use of highly digestible protein, by correct intake of fiber fraction and with probiotic and prebiotic supplements. To limit subclinical forms of disease, vaccination should replace antibiotic treatments which instead should be reserved only for symptomatic groups of pig