Integrated municipal waste management systems: An indicator to assess their environmental and economic sustainability

Tools based on Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) are routinely used to assess the environmental and economic performance of integrated municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is used to quantify the environmental impacts, whereas Life Cycle Costing (LCC) allows financial and economic assessments. These tools require specific experience and knowledge, and a large amount of data. The aim of this project is the definition of an indicator for the assessment of the environmental and economic sustainability of integrated MSW management systems. The challenge is to define a simple but comprehensive indicator that may be calculated also by local administrators and managers of the waste system and not only by scientists or LCT experts. The proposed indicator is a composite one, constituted by three individual indicators: two of them assess the environmental sustainability of the system by quantifying the achieved material and energy recovery levels, while the third one quantifies the costs. The composite indicator allows to compare different integrated MSW management systems in an objective way, and to monitor the performance of a system over time. The calculation of the three individual indicators has been tested on the integrated MSW management systems of the Lombardia Region (Italy) as well as on four of its provinces (Milano, Bergamo, Pavia, and Mantova)

Understanding the effects of air pollution on neurogenesis and gliogenesis in the growing and adult brain

Exposure to air pollution - and particularly to particulate matter (PM) - is strongly associated with higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, poor mental health and cognitive defects. In animal models, disruption of CNS development and disturbances of adult neurogenesis contribute to PM neurotoxicity. Recent studies show that gestational PM exposure not only affects embryonic neurodevelopment, but also disturbs postnatal brain growth and maturation, by interfering with neurogenic/gliogenic events, myelination and synaptogenesis. Similarly, adult neurogenesis is affected at many levels, from neural stem cell amplification up to the maturation and integration of novel neurons in the adult brain parenchyma. The underlying mechanisms are still by and large unknown. Beyond microglia activation and neuroinflammation, recent studies propose a role for novel epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation and extracellular vesicles-associated microRNAs

A closed form for the electrostatic interaction between two rod-like charged objects

We have calculated the electrostatic interaction between two rod-like charged objects with arbitrary orientations in three dimensions. we obtained a closed form formula expressing the interaction energy in terms of the separation distance between the centers of the two rod-like objects, $r$, their lengths (denoted by $2l_1$ and $2l_2$), and their relative orientations (indicated by $\theta$ and $\phi$). When the objects have the same length ($2l_1=2l_2=l$), for particular values of separations, i.e for $r\leq0.8 l$, two types of minimum are appeared in the interaction energy with respect to $\theta$. By employing the closed form formula and introducing a scaled temperature $t$, we have also studied the thermodynamic properties of a one dimensional system of rod-like charged objects. For different separation distances, the dependence of the specific heat of the system to the scaled temperature has been studied. It is found that for $r<0.8 l$, the specific heat has a maximum.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 1 table, Accepted by J. Phys.: Condens. Matte

CYP2E1 autoantibodies in liver diseases

Autoimmune reactions involving cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) are a feature of idiosyncratic liver injury induced by halogenated hydrocarbons and isoniazid, but are also detectable in about one third of the patients with advanced alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and chronic hepatitis C (CHC). In these latter the presence of anti-CYP2E1 auto-antibodies is an independent predictor of extensive necro-inflammation and fibrosis and worsens the recurrence of hepatitis following liver transplantation, indicating that CYP2E1-directed autoimmunity can contribute to hepatic injury. The molecular characterization of the antigens recognized by anti-CYP2E1 auto-antibodies in ALD and CHC has shown that the targeted conformational epitopes are located in close proximity on the molecular surface. Furthermore, these epitopes can be recognized on CYP2E1 expressed on hepatocyte plasma membranes where they can trigger antibody-mediated cytotoxicity. This does not exclude that T cell-mediated responses against CYP2E1 might also be involved in causing hepatocyte damage. CYP2E1 structural modifications by reactive metabolites and molecular mimicry represent important factors in the breaking of self-tolerance against CYP2E1 in, respectively, ALD and CHC. However, genetic or acquired interferences with the mechanisms controlling the homeostasis of the immune system are also likely to contribute. More studies are needed to better characterize the impact of anti-CYP2E1 autoimmunity in liver diseases particularly in relation to the fact that common metabolic alterations such as obesity and diabetes stimulates hepatic CYP2E1 expression

Solid-state Nonlinear Optical Properties of Mononuclear Copper(II) Complexes with Chiral Tridentate and Tetradentate Schiff Base Ligands

Salen-type metal complexes have been actively studied for their nonlinear optical (NLO) properties, and push-pull compounds with charge asymmetry generated by electron releasing and withdrawing groups have shown promising results. As a continuation of our research in this field and aiming at solid-state features, herein we report on the synthesis of mononuclear copper(II) derivatives bearing either tridentate N2O Schiff bases L(a-c)- and pyridine as the forth ancillary ligand, [Cu(La-c)(py)](ClO4) (1a-c), or unsymmetrically-substituted push-pull tetradentate N2O2 Schiff base ligands, [Cu(5-A-5'-D-saldpen/chxn)] (2a-c), both derived from 5-substituted salicylaldehydes (sal) and the diamines (1R,2R)-1,2-diphenylethanediamine (dpen) and (1S,2S)-1,2-diaminocyclohexane (chxn). All compounds were characterized through elemental analysis, infrared and UV/visible spectroscopies, and mass spectrometry in order to guarantee their purity and assess their charge transfer properties. The structures of 1a-c were determined via single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The geometries of cations of 1a-c and of molecules 2a-c were optimized through DFT calculations. The solid-state NLO behavior was measured by the Kurtz-Perry powder technique @1.907 µm. All chiral derivatives possess non-zero quadratic electric susceptibility (χ(2)) and an efficiency of about 0.15-0.45 times that of standard urea

Multiannual infestation patterns of grapevine plant inhabiting Scaphoideus titanus (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) leafhoppers

The Nearctic leafhopper Scaphoideus titanus Ball (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) was accidentally introduced in Europe, where it became the vector of the ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma vitis' phytoplasma causing the ‘Flavescence dorée' disease of grapevine plants. A time-varying distributed delay model, simulating the successive occurrences of egg hatching, nymph presence, and adult emergence, is extended here to represent multi-generation infestation patterns of grapevine plants inhabited by eggs, nymphs, and adults. The model extension includes intrinsic mortality, mortality caused by plant dormancy, and low temperatures, development of diapausing and post-diapausing eggs, fecundity rates, and adult longevity. Field observations and published data were used to estimate parameters. The model was validated with five years canopy infestation data from five vineyards not subjected to insecticide treatments and found to have satisfactory explicative and predictive qualities. The model output is most sensitive to a 10% variation in the upper threshold and in the shape parameters of the survivorship function and least sensitive to a 10% variation in the shape parameters of the development function and the survivorship level. Recommendations are made to take into account other factors than temperature and plant phenology and include a wider geographical area in further model developmen