Valutazioni tecniche ed economiche sull'uso degli inseguitori solari

I processi di antropizzazione connessi allo sviluppo del settore energia hanno determinato delle “impronte” sul nostro pianeta ormai indelebili. Non resta che provare a ridurre i consumi energetici e affidare la produzione dell’energia ad un mix equilibrato di fonti. In questo contesto, con particolare riferimento alla produzione dell’energia elettrica, lo sfruttamento della risorsa solare ha assunto un ruolo di primo ordine. Gran parte delle attività di ricerca e sviluppo del settore si è concentrata sulle tecniche e sulle metodologie innovative di conversione della fonte in energia elettrica. Accanto a queste, a parità di tecnologia di conversione adottata, altre attività di ricerca e sviluppo sono state indirizzate alla ottimizzazione della produzione di energia elettrica mediante “concentrazione” della radiazione solare nel punto di collocazione del dispositivo di conversione ovvero mediante opportuna variazione dell’orientamento del dispositivo rispetto alla direzione della radiazione stessa. Tali attività di ricerca e sviluppo, intraprese dalla comunità scientifica e dal mondo imprenditoriale, certamente favoriranno un migliore sfruttamento della fonte solare e avranno ricadute in tempi diversi. Questo articolo concentra la sua attenzione su gli inseguitori solari, dispositivi di semplice applicazione basati su tecnologie consolidate, la cui diffusa applicazione potrebbe portare, in breve termine, ad un rilevante incremento di producibilità degli impianti fotovoltaici. In particolare, dopo una disamina delle caratteristiche degli inseguitori solari vengono presentati alcuni dati sull’incremento della producibilità degli impianti e alcune considerazioni di ordine tecnico ed economico circa la corretta valutazione della convenienza economica dell’uso di tali dispositivi, che sta alla base dell’effettivo sviluppo del relativo mercato

Design of a transverse flux machine for power generation from seawaves

In this paper, we present a transverse flux linear generator. We investigate the possibility to use this generator to extract energy from seawaves. We propose an optimization procedure that allows us to obtain an optimized design of the generator. The optimized design of the converter shows a power generation capability index much higher than other renewable systems

Meissner to vortex phase transition in a two-leg ladder in artificial gauge field

International audienceWe consider a two-leg boson ladder in artificial gauge field with hard-core intraleg and negligible interleg interactions. Using numerical simulations based on the Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG) algorithm, combined with a bosonization approach, we study its commensurate-incommensurate transition to a vortex phase at a critical flux. We discuss the finite-size scaling behavior of the longitudinal current near the transition. For weak interchain bo-son hopping, the finite size scaling is in agreement with the predictions from bosonization

A Win-Win Scheme for Improving the Environmental Sustainability of University Commuters’ Mobility and Getting Environmental Credits

European Union Member States are called upon to meet internationally proposed environmental goals. This study is based, in particular, on the recommendation of the European Union (EU), which encourages Member States to pursue effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, including through appropriate changes in the behavioral habits of citizens. In this respect, among the main sectors involved, transport and mobility should certainly be mentioned. National institutions should be adequately involved in order to achieve the objectives set; in this regard, universities must certainly be considered for their educational value. These latter, for instance, could commit to improving the environmental performance of the mobility of their commuter students (to a not insignificant extent), since commuting modes are often the cause of high CO2 emissions; indeed, they still largely involve the use of internal combustion engines based on fossil fuels. In this paper, the effectiveness of a smartphone-app-based method to encourage commuter students to adopt more sustainable transport modes is evaluated. In more detail, starting from a statistical analysis of the status quo of mobility habits of a sample of students at the University of Palermo (Italy), an improvement of current habits toward a more sustainable path is encouraged through a new application (specifically created for this purpose) installed on students’ smartphones. Then, the daily and annual distances traveled by commuters with the new mobility modes are calculated, and the resulting savings in energy and CO2 emissions are estimated. Finally, it is proposed that the reduced emissions could be converted into energy-efficiency credits that the University could use to enter the emission trading system (ETS), here contextualized within the Italian “TEE” (“Energy Efficiency Credits”) scheme, while the benefits for students participating in the program could consist of reduced fees and free access to university services. The results obtained show the feasibility of the proposal. This approach can be considered a useful model that could be adopted by any other public institutions—not only universities—to facilitate their path toward decarbonization

The Effect of Simple Melodic Lines on Aesthetic Experience: Brain Response to Structural Manipulations

This fMRI study investigates the effect of melody on aesthetic experience in listeners na\uefve to formal musical knowledge. Using simple melodic lines, whose syntactic structure was manipulated, we created systematic acoustic dissonance. Two stimulus categories were created: canonical (syntactically \u201ccorrect,\u201d in the Western culture) and modified (made of an altered version of the canonical melodies). The stimuli were presented under two tasks: listening and aesthetic judgment. Data were analyzed as a function of stimulus structure (canonical and modified) and stimulus aesthetics, as appraised by each participant during scanning. The critical contrast modified versus canonical stimuli produced enhanced activation of deep temporal regions, including the parahippocampus, suggesting that melody manipulation induced feelings of unpleasantness in the listeners. This was supported by our behavioral data indicating decreased aesthetic preference for the modified melodies. Medial temporal activation could also have been evoked by stimulus structural novelty determining increased memory load for the modified stimuli. The analysis of melodies judged as beautiful revealed that aesthetic judgment of simple melodies relied on a fine-structural analysis of the stimuli subserved by a left frontal activation and, possibly, on meaning attribution at the charge of right superior temporal sulcus for increasingly pleasurable stimuli

Simple and efficient water soluble thioligands for rhodium and iridium catalyzed biphasic hydrogenation

The activity of catalytic systems derived from the interaction between Rh(CO)2acac and [Ir(COD)Cl]2, respectively, with the water soluble thioligands (L)-Cysteine (1) and (S)-Captopril (2), was tested in the aqueous biphasic hydrogenation of some representative ,-unsaturated compounds as 2-cyclohexen- 1-one (I), trans-cinnamaldehyde (V) and [3-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-methylpropenal] (X), precursor of the fragrance Helional® (XI). The precatalyst Rh/Cap was able to hydrogenate cyclohexenone even at low pressure at 60 ◦C in a neutral medium while Rh/Cy required either higher pressure and temperature or an alkaline medium. The iridium based catalysts, Ir/Cy and Ir/Cap, showed an analogous trend though their activities were lower than those of the related rhodium catalysts. All the catalysts were easily recycled without significant loss of activity. The rhodium catalysts were also used in the hydrogenation of the above aldehydes V and X and their activity was strongly enhanced when ethylene glycol was used as organic solvent or co-solvent

Plant community composition and an insect outbreak influence phenol oxidase activity and soil-litter biochemistry in a sub-Arctic birch-heath

Rates of decomposition in Arctic soils are regulated by temperature and moisture, but substrate availability is dictated by vegetation inputs, which are also subject to biotic influences. Here, we examine how leaf and litter inputs from individual dwarf shrub species influence soil enzyme activity in a sub-Arctic heath community in Abisko, Sweden. We further consider how foliar damage via insect herbivory (and outbreak) affects the soil community and decomposition. During the peak growing season (July 2011), we assessed how shrub community composition (Empetrum hermaphroditum, Vaccinium myrtillus, V. uliginosum and V. vitis-idaea) determined litter and soil phenol oxidase activity. A periodic severe outbreak of autumn moth larvae (Epirrita autumnata) affected this community in the following year (July 2012), and we used this to investigate its impact on relationships with phenol oxidase activity, soil respiration, soluble NH4 + and soluble phenolics; the soluble factors being directly associated with inputs from insect larval waste (frass). Pre-outbreak (2011), the strongest relationship observed was higher phenol oxidase activity with E. hermaphroditum cover. In the outbreak year (2012), phenol oxidase activity had the strongest relationship with damage to the deciduous species V. myrtillus, with greater herbivory lowering activity. For the other deciduous species, V. uliginosum, soil NH4 + and phenolics were negatively correlated with foliar larval damage. Phenol oxidase activity was not affected by herbivory of the evergreen species, but there was a strong positive relationship observed between E. hermaphroditum community abundance and soil respiration. We highlight the dominant role of E. hermaphroditum in such sub-Arctic shrub communities and show that even during insect outbreaks, it can dictate soil processes

Characterization of chenopodin isoforms from quinoa seeds and assessment of their potential anti-inflammatory activity in Caco-2 cells

Several food-derived molecules, including proteins and peptides, can show bioactivities toward the promotion of well-being and disease prevention in humans. There is still a lack of information about the potential effects on immune and inflammatory responses in mammalian cells following the ingestion of seed storage proteins. This study, for the first time, describes the potential immunomodulation capacity of chenopodin, the major protein component of quinoa seeds. After characterizing the molecular features of the purified protein, we were able to separate two different forms of chenopodin, indicated as LcC (Low charge Chenopodin, 30% of total chenopodin) and HcC (High charge Chenopodin, 70% of total chenopodin). The biological effects of LcC and HcC were investigated by measuring NF-\u3baB activation and IL-8 expression studies in undifferentiated Caco-2 cells. Inflammation was elicited using IL-1\u3b2. The results indicate that LcC and HcC show potential anti-inflammatory activities in an intestinal cell model, and that the proteins can act differently, depending on their structural features. Furthermore, the molecular mechanisms of action and the structural/functional relationships of the protein at the basis of the observed bioactivity were investigated using in silico analyses and structural predictions

ANALISI ECONOMICA RETROSPETTIVA SULLE MISURE DI CONTENIMENTO DELLA SPESA FARMACEUTICA DELL’ASP 1 DI AGRIGENTO RELATIVE AL TRIENNIO 2010/2011/2012

Introduzione. Le misure di contenimento della spesa farmaceutica sono state le principali prerogative previste dal Piano di Rientro della Regione Sicilia ( adempimento A.1.2), in tal senso le realtà delle singole ASP si sono adeguate alle direttive regionali mostrando una classifica tra le Asp siciliane che vedono come protagonista virtuosa l’Asp di Agrigento, prima in classifica. La disamina dei dati fa riferimento al triennio 2010/2011/2012. Materiali e metodi. La rilevazione concerne farmaci rimborsati dal SSN ed erogati tramite canale convenzionale privato, farmaci distribuiti direttamente e quelli utilizzati in ambito ospedaliero nel triennio 2010/2011/2012, attraverso report sulla spesa farmaceutica della regione Sicilia. Risultati. Nel 2010 la spesa farmaceutica annua è stata per l’ASP 1 di Agrigento di € 102.942.864,99, questa grazie all’incremento della distribuzione diretta, di cui al PHT D.A.2205/08 attraverso l’introduzione di molecole appartenenti alla categoria N05A (l’11,03 % della spesa totale nell’anno 2011) secondi solo agli antianemici categoria B03X (26,93 % della spesa totale) già presenti nel 2010. La spesa della distribuzione diretta nel 2011 è stata di € 13.973.336,60 mentre la distribuzione attraverso le farmacie private avrebbe fatto lievitare la spesa totale a € 25.006.073,81 nel 2012 invece l’importo è stato di € 14.953.719,04 ed attraverso il canale privato convenzionato avremmo avuto un costo di € 29.530.504,13 . La spesa totale dell’Asp è passata dunque da € 102.942.864,99 nel 2010, a € 92.883.552,99 nel 2011, a € 91.128.889,13 nel 2012. Conclusioni. Le misure adottate per il contenimento della spesa hanno previsto l’introduzione a partire dal 2011 degli antipsicotici atipici, ed il potenziamento del primo ciclo di terapia per il periodo susseguente alla dimissione ospedaliera in base ai criteri dettati dal D.A. 0150/08 portando l’ASP di Ag ad essere tra le più virtuose della regione Sicilia passando dunque dalla sesta posizione in classifica nel 2010 alla prima nel 2012 con un risparmio pari al 11,48 %, il passaggio degli antipsicotici è stato dettato anche dalla necessità dei pazienti che hanno nell’essere sottoposti a controlli periodici da parte degli specialisti ma anche alla valutazione dell’appropriatezza prescrittiva che in quest’ultimo caso è affidato al farmacista ospedaliero. Un altro obiettivo dell’ASP 1 di Agrigento mirato ad un ulteriore contenimento della spesa è quello di estendere la distribuzione diretta anche alla prescrizione successiva ad ogni visita specialistica ambulatoriale