Bioetanolo e bioelettricità per il trasporto sostenibile: progettazione e ottimizzazione economica delle filiere di produzione

L'obiettivo del lavoro di Tesi è di svolgere un'ottimizzazione economica dell'intera filiera di produzione di bioetanolo e di bioelettricità, a partire dalla coltivazione e dalla logistica di trasporto della biomassa, sino alla definizione e selezione delle tipologie impiantistiche di produzione, e all'evoluzione dei parchi veicolari a combustibile alternativoopenEmbargo per motivi di segretezza e/o di proprietà dei risultati e/o informazioni sensibil

A Mathematical Tool for Optimising Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Sequestration Plants for e-MeOH Production

Carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration is key for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries, as it allows avoiding the direct release of CO2 to the atmosphere and generating carbon-based products. However, for these products to be truly carbon-neutral, intermittent renewable electricity must be deployed at scale, leading to the necessity of optimising flexible plants with potential for local buffer storages, geological sequestration, and conversion units. The scope of this work is to provide a mathematical framework for the economic optimisation of a carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration system, to decarbonise a cement plant located in the Puglia region (Italy), via CO2 geological confinement and/or power and CO2-to-methanol conversion. The final aim is to determine the optimal sizing and cost of the process units of the plant, depending on economic conditions such as the methanol sale price and different perspective costs scenarios. The main outcome is an economic convenience of geological sequestration, as opposed to utilisation, while a long-term scenario would allow for a cost-effective production of methanol when the sale price is above 550 EUR/t

A Mathematical Tool for Optimising Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Sequestration Plants for e-MeOH Production

Carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration is key for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries, as it allows avoiding the direct release of CO2 to the atmosphere and generating carbon-based products. However, for these products to be truly carbon-neutral, intermittent renewable electricity must be deployed at scale, leading to the necessity of optimising flexible plants with potential for local buffer storages, geological sequestration, and conversion units. The scope of this work is to provide a mathematical framework for the economic optimisation of a carbon capture, utilisation, and sequestration system, to decarbonise a cement plant located in the Puglia region (Italy), via CO2 geological confinement and/or power and CO2-to-methanol conversion. The final aim is to determine the optimal sizing and cost of the process units of the plant, depending on economic conditions such as the methanol sale price and different perspective costs scenarios. The main outcome is an economic convenience of geological sequestration, as opposed to utilisation, while a long-term scenario would allow for a cost-effective production of methanol when the sale price is above 550 €/t

Long-Term Follow-Up of the Response-Adjusted Therapy for Advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma Trial

Clinical trials frequently include multiple end points that mature at different times. The initial report, typically based on the primary end point, may be published when key planned co-primary or secondary analyses are not yet available. Clinical Trial Updates provide an opportunity to disseminate additional results from studies, published in JCO or elsewhere, for which the primary end point has already been reported.We analyzed long-term results of the response-adapted trial for adult patients with advanced-stage Hodgkin lymphoma. The aim was to confirm noninferiority of treatment de-escalation by omission of bleomycin from doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) for interim fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (iPET)-negative patients and assess efficacy and long-term safety for iPET-positive patients who underwent treatment intensification with escalated bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisolone (BEACOPP/BEACOPP14). The median follow-up is 7.3 years. For all patients, the 7-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) are 78.2% (95% CI, 75.6 to 80.5) and 91.6% (95% CI, 89.7 to 93.2), respectively. The 1.3% difference in 3-year PFS (95% CI, -3.0 to 4.7) between ABVD and doxorubicin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (AVD) now falls within the predefined noninferiority margin. Among 172 patients with positive iPET, the 7-year PFS was 65.9% (95% CI, 58.1 to 72.6) and the 7-year OS was 83.2% (95% CI, 76.2 to 88.3). The cumulative incidence of second malignancies at 7 years was 5.5% (95% CI, 4.0 to 7.5) for those receiving ABVD/AVD and 2.5% (95% CI, 0.8 to 7.7) for those escalated to BEACOPP. With extended follow-up, these results confirm noninferiority of treatment de-escalation after a negative iPET. Escalation with BEACOPP for iPET-positive patients is effective and safe, with no increase in second malignancies

Comparison of referring and final pathology for patients with T‐cell lymphoma in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107537/1/cncr28676.pd

Adapted treatment guided by interim PET-CT scan in advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma

BACKGROUND: We tested interim positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) as a measure of early response to chemotherapy in order to guide treatment for patients with advanced Hodgkin's lymphoma. METHODS: Patients with newly diagnosed advanced classic Hodgkin's lymphoma underwent a baseline PETCT scan, received two cycles of ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) chemotherapy, and then underwent an interim PET-CT scan. Images were centrally reviewed with the use of a 5-point scale for PET findings. Patients with negative PET findings after two cycles were randomly assigned to continue ABVD (ABVD group) or omit bleomycin (AVD group) in cycles 3 through 6. Those with positive PET findings after two cycles received BEACOPP (bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, and prednisone). Radiotherapy was not recommended for patients with negative findings on interim scans. The primary outcome was the difference in the 3-year progression-free survival rate between randomized groups, a noninferiority comparison to exclude a difference of 5 or more percentage points. RESULTS: A total of 1214 patients were registered; 937 of the 1119 patients (83.7%) who underwent an interim PET-CT scan according to protocol had negative findings. With a median follow-up of 41 months, the 3-year progression-free survival rate and overall survival rate in the ABVD group were 85.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 82.1 to 88.6) and 97.2% (95% CI, 95.1 to 98.4), respectively; the corresponding rates in the AVD group were 84.4% (95% CI, 80.7 to 87.5) and 97.6% (95% CI, 95.6 to 98.7). The absolute difference in the 3-year progression-free survival rate (ABVD minus AVD) was 1.6 percentage points (95% CI, -3.2 to 5.3). Respiratory adverse events were more severe in the ABVD group than in the AVD group. BEACOPP was given to the 172 patients with positive findings on the interim scan, and 74.4% had negative findings on a third PET-CT scan; the 3-year progression-free survival rate was 67.5% and the overall survival rate 87.8%. A total of 62 patients died during the trial (24 from Hodgkin's lymphoma), for a 3-year progression-free survival rate of 82.6% and an overall survival rate of 95.8%. CONCLUSIONS: Although the results fall just short of the specified noninferiority margin, the omission of bleomycin from the ABVD regimen after negative findings on interim PET resulted in a lower incidence of pulmonary toxic effects than with continued ABVD but not significantly lower efficacy

Maps of solar wind plasma precipitation onto Mercury's surface: a geographical perspective

Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, possesses a weak intrinsic magnetic field and has only a very tenuous atmosphere (exosphere). These three conditions result in a direct coupling between the plasma emitted from the Sun (namely the solar wind) and Mercury’s surface. The planet’s magnetic field leads to a non-trivial pattern of plasma precipitation onto the surface, that is expected to contribute to the alteration of the regolith over geological time scales. The goal of this work is to study the solar wind plasma precipitation onto the surface of Mercury from a geographical perspective, as opposed to the local-time-of-day approach of previous precipitation modeling studies. We employ solar wind precipitation maps for protons and electrons from two fully-kinetic numerical simulations of Mercury’s plasma environment. These maps are then integrated over two full Mercury orbits (176 Earth days). We found that the plasma precipitation pattern at the surface is most strongly affected by the upstream solar wind conditions, particularly by the interplanetary magnetic field direction, and less by Mercury’s 3:2 spin-orbit resonance. We also found that Mercury’s magnetic field is able to shield the surface from roughly 90% of the incoming solar wind flux. At the surface, protons have a broad energy distribution from below 500 eV to more than 1.5 keV; while electrons are mostly found in the range 0.1-10 keV. These results will help to better constrain space weathering and exosphere source processes at Mercury, as well as to interpret observations by the ongoing ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission