Ozone and Water Stress: Effects on the Behaviour of Two White Clover Biotypes

ozone pollution, water stress, stomata conductance, ozone uptake, clover, OTC. Ozone is a strong oxidizing pollutant which derives by alteration of the photolytic NOx cycle and it accumulates in the troposphere spreading in rural areas and therefore determining injuries on natural vegetation and crops. Since its penetration occurs mainly through stomata, all factors which alter plant-atmosphere relations could be able to modify plant response to ozone. Interaction between ozone and water stress in Mediterranean environment was studied on ozone resistant and sensitive biotypes of white clover, which were grown in charcoal filtered and notfiltered Open Top Chambers in factorial combination with different levels of water supply. Measurements of biomass, leaf area and stomatal conductance were made during the growth period. Ozone injuries were estimated as not-filtered/filtered OTC yield ratio; the stomatal flux of ozone was estimated multiplying stomata conductance x diffusivity ratio between ozone and water vapour (0.613) x ozone hourly concentrations. The hourly values of ozone uptake were cumulated throughout the cropping periods of the two years. In the sensitive biotype, water stress reduced yield losses due to ozone from 38% to 22%, as well as yield losses due to water stress were reduced by the presence of ozone from 43% to 29%, while no interaction between ozone and water stress was observed in the resistant biotype. Biomass yield losses of the sensitive biotype were strictly correlated to cumulated ozone uptake (R2 = 0.99), while biomass yield losses of the resistant biotype were not affected by the ozone fluxes variations created by the treatments. Flux based models could better estimate yield losses due to ozone in Mediterranean environments in which other stresses could be contemporary present; therefore, the new European directives might replace the actual thresholds based on ozone concentration with others based on ozone flux models

How future surgery will benefit from SARS-COV-2-related measures: a SPIGC survey conveying the perspective of Italian surgeons

COVID-19 negatively affected surgical activity, but the potential benefits resulting from adopted measures remain unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the change in surgical activity and potential benefit from COVID-19 measures in perspective of Italian surgeons on behalf of SPIGC. A nationwide online survey on surgical practice before, during, and after COVID-19 pandemic was conducted in March-April 2022 (NCT:05323851). Effects of COVID-19 hospital-related measures on surgical patients' management and personal professional development across surgical specialties were explored. Data on demographics, pre-operative/peri-operative/post-operative management, and professional development were collected. Outcomes were matched with the corresponding volume. Four hundred and seventy-three respondents were included in final analysis across 14 surgical specialties. Since SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, application of telematic consultations (4.1% vs. 21.6%; p < 0.0001) and diagnostic evaluations (16.4% vs. 42.2%; p < 0.0001) increased. Elective surgical activities significantly reduced and surgeons opted more frequently for conservative management with a possible indication for elective (26.3% vs. 35.7%; p < 0.0001) or urgent (20.4% vs. 38.5%; p < 0.0001) surgery. All new COVID-related measures are perceived to be maintained in the future. Surgeons' personal education online increased from 12.6% (pre-COVID) to 86.6% (post-COVID; p < 0.0001). Online educational activities are considered a beneficial effect from COVID pandemic (56.4%). COVID-19 had a great impact on surgical specialties, with significant reduction of operation volume. However, some forced changes turned out to be benefits. Isolation measures pushed the use of telemedicine and telemetric devices for outpatient practice and favored communication for educational purposes and surgeon-patient/family communication. From the Italian surgeons' perspective, COVID-related measures will continue to influence future surgical clinical practice

Search for dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks in √s = 13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for weakly interacting massive particle dark matter produced in association with bottom or top quarks is presented. Final states containing third-generation quarks and miss- ing transverse momentum are considered. The analysis uses 36.1 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at √s = 13 TeV in 2015 and 2016. No significant excess of events above the estimated backgrounds is observed. The results are in- terpreted in the framework of simplified models of spin-0 dark-matter mediators. For colour- neutral spin-0 mediators produced in association with top quarks and decaying into a pair of dark-matter particles, mediator masses below 50 GeV are excluded assuming a dark-matter candidate mass of 1 GeV and unitary couplings. For scalar and pseudoscalar mediators produced in association with bottom quarks, the search sets limits on the production cross- section of 300 times the predicted rate for mediators with masses between 10 and 50 GeV and assuming a dark-matter mass of 1 GeV and unitary coupling. Constraints on colour- charged scalar simplified models are also presented. Assuming a dark-matter particle mass of 35 GeV, mediator particles with mass below 1.1 TeV are excluded for couplings yielding a dark-matter relic density consistent with measurements

Chemiluminescence analysis of the effect of butanol-diesel fuel blends on the spray-combustion process in an experimental common rail diesel engine

Combustion process was studied from the injection until the late combustion phase in an high swirl optically accessible combustion bowl connected to a single cylinder 2-stroke high pressure common rail compression ignition engine. Commercial diesel and blends of diesel and n-butanol (20%: BU20 and 40%: BU40) were used for the experiments. A pilot plus main injection strategy was investigated fixing the injection pressure and fuel mass injected per stroke. Two main injection timings and different pilot-main dwell times were explored achieving for any strategy a mixing controlled combustion. Advancing the main injection start, an increase in net engine working cycle (>40%) together with a strong smoke number decrease (>80%) and NOx concentration increase (@50%) were measured for all pilot injection timings. Compared to diesel fuel, butanol induced a decrease in soot emission and an increase in net engine working area when butanol ratio increased in the blend. A noticeable increase in NOx was detected at the exhaust for BU40 with a slight effect of the dwell-time. Spectroscopic investigations confirmed the delayed auto-ignition (~60 ms) of the pilot injection for BU40 compared to diesel. The spectral features for the different fuels were comparable at the start of combustion process, but they evolved in different ways. Broadband signal caused by soot emission, was lower for BU40 than diesel. Different balance of the bands at 309 and 282 nm, due to different OH transitions, were detected between the two fuels. The ratio of these intensities was used to follow flame temperature evolution

Spray-combustion process characterization in a common rail diesel engine fuelled with butanol-diesel blends by conventional methods and optical diagnostics

The target of a sustainable mobility has led to investigate advanced combustion modes and fuels technologies. On the other side, the increasing global energy demand and the decreasing fossil-energy resources are enhancing the interest in the use of renewable alternative fuels for compression ignition engines with the target of near-zero emission levels. Although performance and emissions of alternative-fuel within light-duty diesel engines have been extensively investigated, results of fuel chemical composition impact on combustion by integrated optical methodologies are lacking. In order to meet this challenge, one of the main objectives of the research efforts is to characterize the combustion and species evolution. In this investigation, conventional tests and optical diagnostics were employed to enhance the comprehension of the combustion process and chemical markers in a common rail compression ignition engine powered by butanol-diesel blends. The investigation was focused on the effect of the injection strategy and blend composition on in-cylinder spray combustion and soot formation, through UV-visible digital imaging and natural emission spectroscopy. Experiments were performed in an optically accessible single cylinder high swirl compression ignition engine, equipped with a common rail multi-jets injection system. UV-visible emission spectroscopy was used to follow the evolution of the combustion process chemical markers. Spectral features of OH were identified and followed during the spray combustion process examining different pilot-main dwell timings. Soot spectral evidence in the visible wavelength range was correlated to soot engine out emissions. In this work, conventional and optical data related to diesel fuel blended with 40 % of n-butanol will be presented