Electrification of Vessels for Garbage Collection and Treatment in Venice Lagoon

Nowadays, reducing pollutant emissions is of fundamental importance. In particular, in areas where urban public transport is carried out almost exclusively by boats, these represent the primary factors on which it is necessary to intervene. The conversion of current diesel units into hybridpropelled ones is essential to preserve the marina and the environment in areas considered UNESCO heritage sites such as Venice. This document concerns the study of the first hybrid vessel built for garbage collection in the old town of Venice. Paying attention to the system engineering innovations and the results of the tests carried out on board, the authors present some considerations regarding the changes necessary to convert the current diesel propulsion into a hybrid one, with the aim to enable navigation in Zero Emission Mode

Performance In-Live of Marine Engines: A Tool for Its Evaluation

Currently, most ships use internal combustion engines (ICEs) either as propulsion engines or generator sets. The growing concern in environmental protection along with the consequent international rule framework motivated shipowners and designers to replace conventional power systems in order to mitigate pollutant emissions. Therefore, manufacturers have made available on the market many technological solutions to use alternative fuels (Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG, methanol, etc.). However, the main energy source is still fossil fuel, so almost all the ICEs are made up of turbocharged diesel engines (TDEs). TDEs have still the potential to improve their efficiency and reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. In particular, the interpretation of Industry 4.0 given by manufacturers enabled the installation of a robust network of sensors on TDEs, which is able to allow reliable power management systems and make ships much more efficient regarding operating costs (fuel consumption and maintenance) and environmental footprint. In this paper, a software tool that is capable of processing the in-live performance of TDEs is described. The great novelty consists in the ability to process all the information detected by the sensor network in-live and dynamically optimize TDEs\u2019 operation, whereas the common practice involves the collection of performance data and their off-line processing

An innovative approach for the biological risk management on-board ships during COVID-19 crisis

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19), due to the limited supply of vaccines, put a strain on world- wide economy, also on the maritime sector. As a result, the adoption of non-pharmaceutical inter- ventions to limit the biological agent\u2019s spread became fundamental. Such preventing actions can be performed in accordance with various International and National Regulations even though not specifically issued for the maritime sector. In this context, the authors introduce a new methodol- ogy for biological risk management on-board ships using a qualitative risk matrix. Moreover, with respect to the traditional approach, an importance weight scale was added, in order to classify the different on-board activities. To perform a comparative analysis between the new and the traditional approach, a case study based on a cargo ship was carried out

Identification of measures to contain the outbreaks on passenger ships using pedestrian simulations

6no: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, since the beginning of 2020, has had a strong effect on many industry sectors including maritime transport. In this context, the passenger transport industry was the most affected and it is still in a very critical situation. Starting from the "No Sail Order" issued in March 2020, cruise companies stopped their operations. Besides the international regulatory bodies issued several guidelines for the prevention and management of pandemics onboard in order to safely resume cruises. The present work addresses this topic, aiming to discuss procedures and best practices to reduce the risk of uncontrolled spreading of SARS-CoV-2 infection on large cruise vessels. Starting from the lessons learned from the representative case of Diamond Princess, here the tools developed in the framework of Industry 4.0 have been used to highlight and handle the criticalities risen on the internal layout of passenger vessels, opening new opportunities to operate existing vessels and improve the design new buildings for outbreaks prevention and control.openopenBraidotti, Luca; Bertagna, Serena; Dodero, Matteo; Piu, Michele; Marinò, Alberto; Bucci, VittorioBraidotti, Luca; Bertagna, Serena; Dodero, Matteo; Piu, Michele; Marinò, Alberto; Bucci, Vittori

Performance In-Live of Marine Engines: A Tool for Its Evaluation

Currently, most ships use internal combustion engines (ICEs) either as propulsion engines or generator sets. The growing concern in environmental protection along with the consequent international rule framework motivated shipowners and designers to replace conventional power systems in order to mitigate pollutant emissions. Therefore, manufacturers have made available on the market many technological solutions to use alternative fuels (Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG, methanol, etc.). However, the main energy source is still fossil fuel, so almost all the ICEs are made up of turbocharged diesel engines (TDEs). TDEs have still the potential to improve their efficiency and reduce fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. In particular, the interpretation of Industry 4.0 given by manufacturers enabled the installation of a robust network of sensors on TDEs, which is able to allow reliable power management systems and make ships much more efficient regarding operating costs (fuel consumption and maintenance) and environmental footprint. In this paper, a software tool that is capable of processing the in-live performance of TDEs is described. The great novelty consists in the ability to process all the information detected by the sensor network in-live and dynamically optimize TDEs’ operation, whereas the common practice involves the collection of performance data and their off-line processing

I nomi e luoghi. Densità toponomastica e struttura territoriale in Toscana tra XIX e XXI secolo

Il contributo presenta alcuni risultati di un progetto di ricerca finalizzato alla creazione di un archivio digitalee allo studio sincronico e diacronico della toponomastica Toscana; tale progetto è cofinanziato dalla Regione Toscana, dal CIST (Centro Interuniversitario di Scienze del Territorio) e dall’IRTA/Leonardo (Istituto di Ricerca sul Territorio e l’Ambiente). Le attività di indagine consistono nella implementazione della banca dati toponomastica della Carta Tecnica Regionale della Toscana attraverso la digitalizzazione georiferita dei nomi dei luoghi reperiti nei catasti storici geometrico-particellari e in altre fonti cartografiche recenti (IGM, Catasto), nel tentativo di recuperare il consistente patrimonio toponimico scomparso e di rilevare le trasformazioni (talvolta corruzioni) linguistiche dei toponimi attuali. Per ogni termine registrato sono state valutate natura geometrica, consistenza lessicale, spaziale e funzionale. In particolare il contributo riporta alcune considerazioni preliminari sulla geografia della concentrazione toponomastica nel XIX secolo e all'inizio del XXI secolo e le variazioni di densità che tale patrimonio ha subito nell’intervallo dei due secoli

Ranitidine bismuth citrate with either clarithromycin 1 g/day or 1.5 g/day is equally effective in the eradication of H. pylori and healing of duodenal ulcer.

Background: No randomized double-blind studies have been performed to compare clarithromycin 1 g/day with higher doses of the macrolide (1.5 g/day) when combined with ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC). Aim: To compare H. pylori eradication and ulcer healing rates of RBC 400 mg b.d. for 4 weeks combined for the first 2 weeks either with clarithromycin 500 mg b.d. (Group A) or clarithromycin 500 mg t.d.s. (Group B). Methods: Two hundred and seventy-three patients with H. pylori-positive active duodenal ulcer were included, H. pylori infection was detected by CLO-test and histology on antral and corpus biopsies before and at least 4 weeks after the end of therapy, Eradication was assumed if both CLO-test and histology results were negative for H. pylori. Results: Eradication/healing rates according to intention-to-treat and per protocol analysis were 76/82% and 87/92% for Group A and 78/85% and 68/95% for Group B, respectively (P = N.S.). Adverse events were reported by 7% and 12% of patients in Groups A and B, respectively, and they were generally mild. Conclusions: RBC in co-prescription with clarithromycin 500 mg b.d. is as effective as RBC plus clarithromycin 500 t.d.s. in eradicating H. pylori and healing duodenal ulcers