Energy performance analysis of residential buildings in Bari, in the South of Italy

Refurbishment of existing residential buildings and energy saving represent important aspects of environmental sustainability, against the problems of greenhouse gas emissions and scarcity of resources. Many economic interests have turned built heritage into a global energy problem: they have not respected the places and the different climatic areas. It has caused damage to urban landscape and the deterioration of living conditions. Nevertheless, built heritage is an opportunity to apply many technologies to achieve significant improvements in comfort and thermal performance. Therefore, this work focuses on thermal analysis about one of the most common building types in the city of Bari, in the South of Italy. The aim is to obtain an estimate of energy consumption of a part of the city: energy simulation softwares, such as DesignBuilder / EnergyPlus and Mc4, are useful to evaluate the thermal performances of studied buildings and to compare dynamic and steady state results. In fact, in Mediterranean area, the evaluation of their thermal performance is necessary because if, on one hand, buildings have low insulation in winter, on the other hand, they need cooling in summer. These data are essential to understand the influence of this building type on the heat balance of the city. The results permit us to obtain a detailed analysis of a significant area in the city of Bari using GIS technologies that allow us to estimate the energy needs of built heritage on a territorial level. In this context, it is possible to carry out a mapping of the studied area and its energy needs. In this way, it can be used to choose some retrofit strategic actions in order to improve the energy performance of buildings for sustainable energy planning

Sistemi liposomiali a rilascio di farmaco nel trattamento di parodontiti

L’idea di base di questo lavoro di tesi è quella di intrappolare molecole di antibiotico all’interno di carrier liposomiali di dimensioni sub-micrometriche. Lo scopo finale è quello di mettere a punto un protocollo per ottenere sospensioni liposomiche per uso dentistico. A tal fine, saranno testate alcune formule liposomiali, utilizzando nello specifico diversi composti (fluorescenti e non) da intrappolare nel core vescicolare o nel bilayer fosfolipidico. Una volta ottenuta una sospensione di liposomi stabile, verrà fatta una caratterizzazione morfologica mediante analisi al microscopio e al DLS. Lo studio proseguirà con l’introduzione nelle vescicole lipidiche di nanoparticelle di magnetite per conferire ai liposomi stessi proprietà magnetiche. In questo modo verrà testata la penetrazione dei liposomi all’interno dei tubuli dentinali secondo due modalità distinte: diffusione passiva in cui le vescicole sono spinte dalla sola forza capillare e diffusione forzata in cui, invece, il movimento delle vescicole è indotto da un campo magnetico esterno. Il passo successivo sarà quello di sviluppare un modello matematico che simuli la penetrazione, allo scopo di predire la profondità raggiunta dal liposoma nel tubulo dentinale. L’ultima fase sarà dedicata ad una valutazione sperimentale della penetrazione del liposoma nel tubulo dentinale con delle prove in vitro su sezioni istologiche di denti umani estratti. La profondità di penetrazione dei liposomi sarà quindi valutata nei due casi di diffusione ordinaria e diffusione forzata tramite analisi in fluorescenza o imaging elettronico, ed infine comparata con i risultati ottenuti dalla simulazione

Re-interpretation of an ancient passive cooling strategy: a new system of wooden lattice openings

Abstract Traditional passive cooling strategies are a very important tool in Mediterranean architecture to face climate changes and to limit energy consumption, both in new and ancient buildings, toward sustainability and reduction of fossil fuel consumption. Starting from the traditional architectural culture, the aim of the study is to understand how using and re-interpreting ancient constructive elements that interact with the outdoor environment, in order to assure the indoor thermal-hygrometric comfort. In this regard, the paper proposes the study of a new system of wooden lattice openings to be installed in Mediterranean buildings. It originates from the Islamic architecture and it is used especially to control natural light into the buildings. Actually, it has also the function to regulate the airflow into the indoor environment, mitigating the climate conditions and ensuring the comfort of inhabitants. For this reason, the research proposes the analysis of this system through modern computational tools and demonstrates that it can guarantee better indoor summer conditions, improving wind velocity and air change rate in the room

The color in the vernacular bioclimatic architecture in Mediterranean region

Abstract The building sector plays a crucial role in relation to energy and environmental issues. For this reason, today, it pays great attention to the need of a bioclimatic architecture closely related to environment, history and traditions of the various places. In this context, the guidelines for careful planning of environmental issues can be traced precisely in vernacular architecture, the result of a close link with the territories and a great sensitivity towards nature. This study focuses on an example of vernacular Mediterranean architecture, represented by the old town of Ostuni (Puglia, Italy). The objective is to analyze the peculiarities of the building and urban layout, with particular attention to the external coating with white lime base, showing in detail the influence of the staining on microclimatic conditions. The results of the carried out analysis highlight the benefits and weaknesses of studied constructive solutions. Thus, it is supported the view that it is necessary to rediscover and be inspired by the vernacular architecture, not representing them as anachronistic, but always drawing on the contributions of technical and scientific progress. The research points out the influence of exterior finishing surfaces on the energy performance of buildings as well as on the outdoor thermal and visual comfort of the inhabitants

Improving the indoor climate of the traditional Ottoman houses in the Medina of Algiers

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Meat quality of Kuruma prawn (Marsupenaeus japonicus): preliminary evaluation

Among the peneids, Marsupenaeus japonicus, a cold-temperate species, carnivorous, is the mostly cultured prawn in Italy and in the Mediterranean Sea basin, thanks to the good adaptability to the temperature and salinity variations, to the good resistance to the manipulations (better resistance out of water), to its appreciate nourishing qualities and to the good growth rate (Lumare, 1998).Whereas the literature on cultured fish fillet is rich (Gjedrem, 1997; Lanari et al., 1999; Parisi et al., 2003), few are the information about the shrimp meat quality traits.Therefore, the present work aimed at typifying the variations of the meat quality characteristics in shrimps from semi-intensive (supplemented with an artificial diet) or extensive rearing systems

Recovery of ancient bioclimatic strategies for energy retrofit in historical buildings: the case of the Infants' Tower in the Alhambra

Abstract Among Mediterranean historical buildings, the Andalusi architecture is the result of an intuitive and experimental process of adaptation to the surrounding environment. The medieval Muslims coped with difficult climatic conditions in al-Andalus through passive cooling strategies, paying attention also to the thermal comfort. The paper focuses, in particular, on natural ventilation in the Infants' Tower in the Alhambra of Granada. It has eight mashrabiyas at the top whose performance is investigated through a CFD model, in order to understand their contribution to the improvement of indoor thermal comfort and rational energy use during summer

Use of sweet lupin (Lupinus albus L.) as alternative protein source in diets for podolian young bulls

AbstractThe Podolian bovine represents an important example of Italian rustic breed, since it is able to live under difficult environmental conditions and it takes advantage of sources that could not be otherwise used, producing meat and secondarily milk. The "Podolica" breed is diffused in the marginal areas of the south of Italy and it is especially reared in Lucania and also Apulia. It could be improved by means of a rearing management set up in agreement with the traditional systems, using the pastures and feeding schemes aimed to increase meat productions.This trial was carried out on sixteen podolian young bulls of about 9 months of age that were transferred from the pasture to the box and after that divided into two homogeneous groups of 8 subjects each. Then the young bulls had been fed ad libitum for about 180 days on straw and a complete feed containing either extruded soybean meal s.e. (group Soybean, S) or sweet lupine (Lupinus albus L., var. Multitalia) (group Lupine, L).The two different pel..

‘Not only faces’: specialized visual representation of human hands revealed by adaptation

Classical neurophysiological studies demonstrated that the monkey brain is equipped with neurons selectively representing the visual shape of the primate hand. Neuroimaging in humans provided data suggesting that a similar representation can be found in humans. Here, we investigated selectivity of hand representation in humans by means of the visual adaptation technique. Results showed that participants' judgment of human-likeness of a visual probe representing a human hand was specifically reduced by a visual adaptation procedure when using a human hand adaptor but not when using an anthropoid robotic hand or a non-primate animal paw adaptor. Instead, human-likeness of the anthropoid robotic hand was affected by both human and robotic adaptors. No effect was found when using a non-primate animal paw as adaptor or probe. These results support the existence of specific neural mechanisms encoding human hand in the human's visual system.data are ready to be analysed by any kind of dedicated softwaredata are in .excel forma

Il dimensionamento ottimale delle Unità Farmaci Antiblastici in condizioni di efficienza gestionale

Introduction The Recommendation n. 14 of 2012 of Ministry of Health, regarding the prevention of errors in therapy, in the oncological sector, provides for the institution of a Centralized Unit for cytotoxic drug or the possibility to make covenants with others hospitals where the compounding is made in a centralized way.This study aims to define a methodology to detect reference standard about technological sizing (manual or robotic workstations) and number of professionals working in the Centralized Unit for cytotoxic drug. Materials and Methods A specific model has been made in order to simulate scenarios of sizing based on structural and organizational features, and activities defined by the users. The model allows, in particular, to determine the medium cost of a cytotoxic compound, depending on configuration of Centralized Unit for cytotoxic drug adopted, by defining a reference value or standard cost helpful to regulate the covenants between hospitals. Results Evidently, by increasing the number of compounds the needs in terms of personnel and technologies increases: the simulation model, based on hypothesis described, estimated for the minimum sizing, until 90 compounds per die, 1 pharmacist and 2 technicians/nurses. The maximum one, expected per 230-250 compounds per die was of 3 pharmacists and 7 technicians/nurses; in terms of technological sizing it moved from 1 workstation until 90 compounds per die to 3 when the number of compounds became double. Regarding the compound’s cost there were potential important economies of scale: from € 15.6 with 1 workstation and about 80 compounds per die, to € 13.8 (-11.5%) with 2 workstations and about 160 compounds per die, until € 13.2 (-15.4) with 3 workstations and 230 compounds per die. Conclusions The results obtained through the simulation model agree with the quantitative data reported in regulations, available to date, by ensuring about the correctness of scenarios. They could represent a standard to support the regional and local health planning by allowing an optimal management of centralized compounding of cytotoxic therapies, by ensuring the maximum efficiency