Trattamenti per la valorizzazione energetica ed ambientale dei sottoprodotti dell’industria olearia

L’affermarsi nelle economie avanzate di modelli produttivi basati sulla circolarità presuppone un sempre più massiccio ricorso al riuso di beni, al riciclo di materia e all’impiego di fonti di energia rinnovabile. In tale contesto anche la comunità scientifica è chiamata a ricercare soluzioni che permettano, nei settori civili e produttivi, l’uso di fonti energetiche alternative alle fossili e la riduzione degli impatti ambientali legati alla generazione di prodotti e servizi. Il presente lavoro di Tesi si pone nell’ambito delle ricerche volte alla valorizzazione energetica ed ambientale dei sottoprodotti di un importante comparto produttivo europeo, quello dell’industria olearia. L’Unione Europea è il principale produttore, esportatore e consumatore al mondo di olio d’oliva. Altre importanti quote produttive sono concentrate nel resto del bacino del Mediterraneo, in stretta contiguità con il continente europeo. Le sanse, ovvero i sottoprodotti solidi dell’industria olearia, un tempo costituivano una fonte d’ulteriore reddito per il frantoiano in quanto erano destinate al recupero dell’olio residuale attraverso l’uso di solventi in impianti industriali. Negli anni settanta l’affermarsi delle tecnologie estrattive continue, oltre che cambiare le caratteristiche di tale processo, hanno modificato anche le proprietà dei residui solidi dell’industria olearia che hanno progressivamente perso valore economico. I processi continui difatti rendono le sanse più umide e con una minor percentuale di olio recuperabile. Negli anni novanta, con la diffusione delle tecnologie estrattive basate su separatori centrifughi orizzontali continui a due uscite (decanter a due fasi), le sanse hanno acquisito caratteristiche tali da non essere più accettabili a livello industriale a causa dei costosi trattamenti energetici necessari per ridurre il contenuto d’acqua generando, quindi, il problema della valorizzazione di tali sottoprodotti. La digestione anaerobica è una delle tecnologie preminenti per la gestione sostenibile delle biomasse residuali agroindustriali in quanto consente di recuperare energia dalla biomassa di scarto e, nel contempo, produce materia organica stabilizzata (digestato) successivamente impiegabile come ammendante agricolo. Uno dei problemi legati all’uso dei processi della digestione anaerobica per le sanse provenienti dai decanter a due fasi è l’alto contenuto di sostanze fenoliche in esse presenti. Tali composti se rilasciati nell’ambiente hanno un’azione fitotossica e batteriostatica e, nei digestori, sono in grado di ostacolare i processi di metanogenesi. La presente Tesi sperimentale si colloca nell’ambito delle ricerche volte a pretrattare i sottoprodotti dell’industria olearia ai fini della loro valorizzazione dal punto di vista energetico ed ambientale. Tra i possibili pretrattamenti delle sanse per la riduzione del contenuto fenolico è stato individuato un trattamento ossidativo “green” basato sul reattivo di Fenton. Tale reattivo, difatti, non lascia pressoché alcun residuo nel digestato e genera un radicale ossidrilico con un alto potenziale ossidativo (2,73 V) in grado di reagire con le sostanze fenoliche abbattendone il contenuto. Sono state effettuate prove di biometanazione su due matrici provenienti da impianti estrattivi a due fasi: le sanse umide vergini, ovvero le sanse che escono dal separatore centrifugo a due fasi, e le sanse umide denocciolate; quest’ultime sono la parte fibrosa dell’oliva rimanente dopo il recupero del nocciolino a valle del processo di estrazione dell’olio. Le prove effettuate hanno mostrato la capacità dei trattamenti ossidativi di avere effetti consistenti sulla metanogenesi e di incidere positivamente sulla qualità del biogas prodotto. Il ferro utilizzato per innescare la reazione di Fenton si è dimostrato successivamente in grado di eliminare, nei processi di metanogenesi, il contributo di idrogeno solforato proveniente dalle matrici testate. Tale gas acido è uno dei principali composti indesiderati presenti nel biogas. Nei test di biometanazione condotti, i trattamenti ossidativi hanno mostrato, sotto opportune condizioni, la capacità di eliminare i tempi di latenza nella generazione di biometano nelle sanse umide vergini. Le sanse umide denocciolate invece, sono risultate il substrato in grado di produrre un maggior quantitativo di biometano per unità di peso. I trattamenti proposti non hanno però evidenziato in entrambe le matrici la capacità di aumentare la quantità complessiva di biometano prodotta a fine test (55 giorni). Infine è stata effettuata una prova, che ha coinvolto la sola matrice denocciolata, volta ad investigare gli effetti del reattivo di Fenton sulla produzione di bioidrogeno nella dark fermentation. Le matrici denocciolate sottoposte ai vari trattamenti ossidativi hanno prodotto una quantità di bioidrogeno doppia rispetto alle matrici non ossidate. I risultati ottenuti dimostrano la capacità tecnica dei pretrattamenti basati sul reattivo di Fenton di migliorare i processi di biometanazione e di generazione di bioidrogeno eliminando l’effetto batteriostatico delle sostanze fenoliche. Tutto ciò apre interessanti prospettive nell’ottica di una completa valorizzazione dell’intera biomassa afferente all’industria olearia. I pretrattamenti dei residui solidi dei processi estrattivi a due fasi abbinati a tecnologie bi-stadio di digestione anaerobica volte alla produzione accoppiata di idrogeno e metano hanno la potenzialità di rendere l’industria olearia virtualmente a rifiuti zero ed a basso impatto ambientale

Global Trends in Survival From Astrocytic Tumors in Adolescents and Young Adults: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Brain tumors represent an important cause of cancer-related death in adolescents and young adults. Most are diagnosed in low-income and middle-income countries. We aimed to conduct the first, to our knowledge, systematic review of time trends and geographical variation in survival in this age group. METHODS: We included observational studies describing population-based survival from astrocytic tumors in patients aged 15-39 years. We queried 6 electronic databases from database inception to December 31, 2019. This review is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42018111981. RESULTS: Among 5640 retrieved records, 20 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All but 1 study focused on high-income countries. Five-year survival from astrocytoma (broad morphology group) mostly varied between 48.0% and 71.0% (1973-2004) without clear trends or geographic differences. Adolescents with astrocytoma had better outcomes than young adults, but survival values were similar when nonmalignant tumors were excluded. During 2002-2007, 5-year survival for World Health Organization grade I-II tumors was in the range of 72.6%-89.1% in England, Germany, and the United States but lower in Southeastern Europe (59.0%). Five-year survival for anaplastic astrocytoma varied between 39.6% and 55.4% (2002-2007). Five-year survival from glioblastoma was in the range of 14.2%-23.1% (1991-2009). CONCLUSIONS: Survival from astrocytic tumors remained somewhat steady over time, with little change between 1973 and 2009. Survival disparities were difficult to examine, because nearly all the studies were conducted in affluent countries. Studies often adopted the International Classification of Childhood Cancer, which, however, did not allow to accurately describe variation in survival. Larger studies are warranted, including underrepresented populations and providing more recent survival estimates

A Framework to Support Digital Humanities and Cultural Heritage Studies Research

Developments in information and communication technologies and their repercussions for how cultural heritage is preserved, used and produced are the subject of several research and innovation efforts in Europe. Advanced digital technologies create new opportunities for cultural heritage to drive innovation. Digital humanities are an important domain for cultural heritage research in Europe and beyond. Digital tools and methods can be used in innovative ways in cultural heritage research. The research and innovation efforts and framework of digital humanities, and cultural heritage as one of its research fields, are influenced by EU policies and legislation. This article describes the existing policy initiatives, practices and related legal setting as framework conditions for digital humanities and cultural heritage research and innovation in Europe – focusing on urban history applications in the age of digital libraries. This is a multifaceted study of the state of the art in policies, legislation and standards – using a survey with 1000 participants, literature surveys on copyrights and policies

QUERYARCH3D: QUERYING AND VISUALISING 3D MODELS OF A MAYA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN A WEB-BASED INTERFACE

Constant improvements in the field of surveying, computing and distribution of digital-content are reshaping the way Cultural Heritage can be digitised and virtually accessed, even remotely via web. A traditional 2D approach for data access, exploration, retrieval and exploration may generally suffice, however more complex analyses concerning spatial and temporal features require 3D tools, which, in some cases, have not yet been implemented or are not yet generally commercially available. Efficient organisation and integration strategies applicable to the wide array of heterogeneous data in the field of Cultural Heritage represent a hot research topic nowadays. This article presents a visualisation and query tool (QueryArch3D) conceived to deal with multi-resolution 3D models. Geometric data are organised in successive levels of detail (LoD), provided with geometric and semantic hierarchies and enriched with attributes coming from external data sources. The visualisation and query front-end enables the 3D navigation of the models in a virtual environment, as well as the interaction with the objects by means of queries based on attributes or on geometries. The tool can be used as a standalone application, or served through the web. The characteristics of the research work, along with some implementation issues and the developed QueryArch3D tool will be discussed and presented

A WEB-BASED INTERACTIVE TOOL FOR MULTI-RESOLUTION 3D MODELS OF A MAYA ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Continuous technological advances in surveying, computing and digital-content delivery are strongly contributing to a change in the way Cultural Heritage is “perceived”: new tools and methodologies for documentation, reconstruction and research are being created to assist not only scholars, but also to reach more potential users (e.g. students and tourists) willing to access more detailed information about art history and archaeology. 3D computer-simulated models, sometimes set in virtual landscapes, offer for example the chance to explore possible hypothetical reconstructions, while on-line GIS resources can help interactive analyses of relationships and change over space and time. While for some research purposes a traditional 2D approach may suffice, this is not the case for more complex analyses concerning spatial and temporal features of architecture, like for example the relationship of architecture and landscape, visibility studies etc. The project aims therefore at creating a tool, called “QueryArch3D” tool, which enables the web-based visualisation and queries of an interactive, multi-resolution 3D model in the framework of Cultural Heritage. More specifically, a complete Maya archaeological site, located in Copan (Honduras), has been chosen as case study to test and demonstrate the platform’s capabilities. Much of the site has been surveyed and modelled at different levels of detail (LoD) and the geometric model has been semantically segmented and integrated with attribute data gathered from several external data sources. The paper describes the characteristics of the research work, along with its implementation issues and the initial results of the developed prototype

Cluster mass estimation through Fair Galaxies

We analyse a catalogue of simulated clusters within the theoretical framework of the Spherical Collapse Model (SCM), and demonstrate that the relation between the infall velocity of member galaxies and the cluster matter overdensity can be used to estimate the mass profile of clusters, even though we do not know the full dynamics of all the member galaxies. In fact, we are able to identify a limited subset of member galaxies, the 'fair galaxies', which are suitable for this purpose. The fair galaxies are identified within a particular region of the galaxy distribution in the redshift (line-of-sight velocity versus sky-plane distance from the cluster centre). This 'fair region' is unambiguously defined through statistical and geometrical assumptions based on the SCM. These results are used to develop a new technique for estimating the mass profiles of observed clusters and subsequently their masses. We tested our technique on a sample of simulated clusters; the mass profiles estimates are proved to be efficient from 1 up to 7 virialization radii, within a typical uncertainty factor of 1.5, for more than 90 per cent of the clusters considered. Moreover, as an example, we used our technique to estimate the mass profiles and the masses of some observed clusters of the Cluster Infall Regions in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey catalogue. The technique is shown to be reliable also when it is applied to sparse populated clusters. These characteristics make our technique suitable to be used in clusters of large observational catalogues.Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures, 5 tables - Slightly revised to match the version published on MNRAS; abstract update

GA3 and CPPU application on 'Itália' grapes grown in Porto Feliz-SP

A videira 'Itália' (Vitis vinifera L.) é a cultivar de uva fina para mesa mais consumida no Brasil. A qualidade dos cachos é uma característica fundamental, sendo o tamanho das bagas o componente mais valorizado pelos consumidores. Uma das alternativas para incrementar a qualidade das bagas é o uso de biorreguladores. Avaliaram-se, em três ciclos de produção, os efeitos de doses de ácido giberélico (AG3) isolado e associado com forchlorfenuron (CPPU), na qualidade dos cachos de uva Itália produzida em Porto Feliz-SP. A aplicação dos biorreguladores foi realizada aos 25 dias após o florescimento, em delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, em fatorial 4X4 (zero, 10; 20 e 30 mg L-1 AG3 X zero, 5; 10 e 15 mg L-1 CPPU), com oito repetições para o primeiro ciclo, e fatorial 3X3 (zero, 20 e 30 mg L-1 AG3 X zero, 10 e 20 mg L-1 CPPU) com dez repetições para o segundo e terceiro ciclos. A mistura de 20 mg L-1 de AG3 com 10 mg L-1 de CPPU promoveu o incremento do comprimento e do diâmetro das bagas sem prejuízo da massa dos cachos, melhorando sua qualidade, em Porto Feliz-SP. O uso de CPPU isoladamente acarretou em redução do teor de sólidos solúveis das bagas.'Itália' grape (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the main varieties for fresh market in Brazil. Cluster quality is determinant for commercialization and the berry size is highly valued by consumers. An alternative for improving berry size is the use of growth regulators. The effect of increasing concentrations of gibberellic acid (GA3) and forchlorfenuron (CPPU) applied alone or in mixtures was evaluated during three production cycles. Growth regulators were applied 25 days after flowering in the "pea berry size" phenologic stage. Experimental design was completely randomized 4x4 factorial (zero, 10, 20 and 30 mg L-1 GA3 X zero, 5, 10 and 15 mg L-1 CPPU) with eight replications for the first cycle, and 3X3 factorial (zero, 20 and 30 mg L-1 GA3 X zero, 10 and 20 mg L-1 CPPU) with ten replications for the others cycles. The application of GA3 at 20 mg L-1 associated with CPPU at 10 mg L-1 improved berry size without affecting cluster mass, leading to higher grape quality in Porto Feliz, SP. CPPU single application reduced total soluble solids content of the berries.Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES

Colorectal cancer incidence among young adults in England: Trends by anatomical sub-site and deprivation.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer incidence in the UK and other high-income countries has been increasing rapidly among young adults. This is the first analysis of colorectal cancer incidence trends by sub-site and socioeconomic deprivation in young adults in a European country. METHODS: We examined age-specific national trends in colorectal cancer incidence among all adults (20-99 years) diagnosed during 1971-2014, using Joinpoint regression to analyse data from the population-based cancer registry for England. We fitted a generalised linear model to the incidence rates, with a maximum of two knots. We present the annual percentage change in incidence rates in up to three successive calendar periods, by sex, age, deprivation and anatomical sub-site. RESULTS: Annual incidence rates among the youngest adults (20-39 years) fell slightly between 1971 and the early 1990s, but increased rapidly from then onwards. Incidence Rates (IR) among adults 20-29 years rose from 0.8 per 100,000 in 1993 to 2.8 per 100,000 in 2014, an average annual increase of 8%. An annual increase of 8.1% was observed for adults aged 30-39 years during 2005-2014. Among the two youngest age groups (20-39 years), the average annual increase for the right colon was 5.2% between 1991 and 2010, rising to 19.4% per year between 2010 (IR = 1.2) and 2014 (IR = 2.5). The large increase in incidence rates for cancers of the right colon since 2010 were more marked among the most affluent young adults. Smaller but substantial increases were observed for cancers of the left colon and rectum. Incidence rates in those aged 50 years and older remained stable or decreased over the same periods. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the overall stabilising trend of colorectal cancer incidence in England, incidence rates have increased rapidly among young adults (aged 20-39 years). Changes in the prevalence of obesity and other risk factors may have affected the young population but more research is needed on the cause of the observed birth cohort effect. Extension of mass screening may not be justifiable due to the low number of newly diagnosed cases but clinicians should be alert to this trend