WATER CONSUMPTION BALANCE AT DWELLING AND DISTRICT SCALE: AN INNOVATIVE PROSPECTIVE FOR CARTEGENA DE INDIAS – EL POZÓN

The consequences of climate change are affecting informal neighbourhoods, exacerbating, even more, the instability and insecurity of these settlements. For instance, the settlement of El Pozón, located in the Colombian city of Cartagena de Indias, in addition to its social and economic problems, is characterized by a contradictory environmental situation: on the one hand, it suffers the problem of floods due to its proximity to the La Virgen swamp and to seasonal heavy rainfall. On the other hand, the supply of drinking and domestic water is problematic - especially in the dry season- and reaches unsustainable costs for a population who lives in marginal conditions (Guarín Cobos, 2003). The project of the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana of Bogotá and the Politecnico di Torino, presented at the Solar Decathlon Latin America & Caribbean 2019 was aimed at improving the quality of life of the El Pozón inhabitants, offering a new model of an economic and sustainable house, self-sufficient from an energy point of view and achievable largely in self-construction with local materials and dry technologies. The prototype, that was built and tested for the duration of the contest, proposed an integrated water use strategy at the building scale, which combines different low-tech systems. This article presents a possible methodology to realize a low-tech water technology: a blue-green roof module to incorporate into the design of the Solar Decathlon prototype. The main purpose is to stimulate the inhabitants to address problems such as lack of sanitation, water quality and environmental improvement, through a scalable, sustainable and cost-effective solution, using mainly waste materials

Method for removing a filter unit from a laboratory extraction hood, relative filtering and safety removal kit, and laboratory extraction hood

A method for removing a filter unit from a laboratory extraction hood in safety conditions for an operator and for the surrounding environment comprises the steps of: a) sprinkling the filter unit with a solidifiable encapsulating solution ; b) waiting for a solidification period so that the solution , solidifying, prevents the filter unit from releasing into the environment contaminating toxic substances which have been previously retained during operation of the laboratory extraction hood for the analysis of samples or objects, and c) extracting the filter unit from the laboratory extraction hood . A kit for actuating the aforesaid method is also disclosed, and a laboratory extraction hood comprising this kit

Consequences of differences in pricing systems between regions on economic values and revenues of a national dairy cattle breeding scheme in Italy

Profit equations were used to determine the relative importance of different mil yield traits, with and without product limitations. Economic value were calculated for three different Italian payment systems: the “average” payment system emplyed by Unalat [Unalat, 1995. Accordo interprofessionale per la determinazione del prezzo del latte per il periodo dal 174/1994 al 31/3/1995. Roma, Italy. P.10 (personal correspondence).], payment system in areas of Parmesan cheeseproduction, and the payment system that is used in deriving the current economic weights. The Parmesan payment system resulted in the highest marginal value of milk with average composition in situations without herd output limitation. With aherd output limitation considering milk yield and fat content, marginal value decreased by 47 to 52%. The economic value of fat relative to that of protein ranged from -0.031 to 0.135 without herd output limitation and -0.432 to -0.020 with herd output limitation. The relative economic value of carries ranged from -0.012 to 0.07 without and -0.020 to 0.042 with herd output resctriction. The sensitivity analysis revealed taht the average herd yield levels for fat, and especially protein, are the main factors influencing the relative economic values. Losses, which occured from and economic repsonse of a breeding scheme due to changes in pricing systems ranged from 4.2 to 16.7%, whereas with the herd output limitation losses up tp 57.0% were found. Losses in economic response to selection indicated that there is potential for diversification of the breeding goal. The benefits of diversification at the population level have to be balanced against the costs of running a larger selection programme in deciding on a longer-term selection policy

CHANGE OF GENETIC PARAMETERS FOR NATIONAL EVALUATIONS OF ITALIAN HOLSTEIN AND EFFECT ON INTERNATIONAL PROOFS

PROCEEDINGS OF THE OPEN SESSIO