Reshaping the urban space: Bakchias in Ptolemaic and Roman times

The paper focuses on some important results obtained by an integrated approach using archaeological evidence, papyrological sources and different kinds of technologies in order to reconstruct the urban development of the site of Bakchias, located in the north-eastern part of the Fayyum region (Egypt). The Mission of Bologna University has excavated ancient Bakchias at Kom Umm el-Athl for over twenty years. In particular, the latest studies, conducted in partnership with Sapienza University of Rome since 2005, have revealed several new elements which are useful for reconsidering the urban development of the kome. In 2011, a GIS was constructed not only in order to store and manage the large quantity of data collected during these years, but also to analyse and process the information and to optimise the research goals. Indeed, the latest-field activities have brought to light numerous structures, both public buildings and private houses in different sectors of the archaeological area. At the same time, an analysis of the papyrological and epigraphic sources was carried out so as to comprehend the useful information about the spatial content, activities and buildings recorded for the settlement. The research was completed using different surveying approaches. All the data thus obtained were merged together in a GIS environment, in order to collect and manage all the information and to integrate the individual elements in a coherent workflow process. Spatial or distributional analysis of the data relating to the site enabled us to draw a series of thematic and phase maps of the Bakchias site. The execution of these diachronic plans, representing different chronological phases of the town, allowed us to evaluate the historical development of the site and urban plan transformations

Photocatalytic Approaches to Circular Economy: CO2 Photoreduction to Regenerated Fuels and Chemicals and H2 Production from Wastewater

The photoreduction of CO2 is an unconventional process to regenerate fuels and chemicals storing solar radiation. A new photoreactor has been designed recently to achieve high productivity during the process, i.e. up to 39 mol/h kgcat of HCOOH or 1.4 mol/h kgcat of CH3OH, which are unprecedented results with respect to literature, especially with a very simple commercial TiO2 catalyst. The production of hydrogen through photoreforming of aqueous solutions of organic compounds is also considered as a way to exploit solar energy storage in the form of hydrogen. Different sugars were selected as substrates derived from the hydrolysis of biomass or from wastewater (food or paper industry). A significant amount of H2 was obtained with very simple catalyst formulations, e.g. 14 mol kgcat-1 h-1 were obtained at 4 bar, 80 \u2daC over commercial TiO2 samples, added with 0.1 mol% of Pt and using glucose as substrate. This result is very remarkable with respect to similar research in conventional photoreactors. Both the routes represent a circular way to regenerate valuable products from gaseous or liquid wastes. Our attention was predominantly focused on the development of innovative reactors, possibly operating under unconventional conditions, with fine tuning of the operation parameters. The exploitation potential of these results under solar irradiation is presented

Effect of Ru loading and of Ru precursor in Ru/C catalysts for ammonia synthesis

One of the key points in the study of Ru/C catalysts for ammonia synthesis is the structure sensitivity of the reaction, which usually determines the proper metal loading, so governing the cost of the final catalyst. In the present work, the effect of Ru loading on catalytic activity and thermal stability (i.e. catalyst resistance against support methanation and metal sintering) was investigated. The optimal Ru loading was found to be around 3.5 wt.%, a value considerably lower with respect to that commonly found in literature. Furthermore, top activity was obtained with 10-15% Ru dispersion, higher dispersion values leading to less performing catalysts. Finally, the effect of some different water-soluble Ru precursors on catalyst behaviour was also investigated

New records of the centropagid Boeckella triarticulata (Thomson, 1883) (Copepoda: Calanoida) in Northern Italy: Evidence of a successful invasion?

In the mid 1980's, the Australasian calanoid copepod Boeckella triarticulata was found in fish ponds of Northern Italy, representing the first record of this species for Europe. Its occurrence has not been reported for other Italian localities since 2005, when several specimens were found in the summer zooplankton of the Po River. It seems likely that B. triarticulata could be more widespread in the Po River valley than available distributional data suggest, considering both the scarcity of studies on the plankton of the main river channel and its adjacent water bodies as well as the high ecological plasticity of this centropagid species. The occurrence of this non-indigenous species in Italian waters may depend on the establishment of stable populations or on multiple reintroductions. Its threat as an invasive species is discussed on the basis of our preliminary results and from literature review. © 2006 The Author(s)

Catalytic combustion of hydrocarbons over perovskites

The advantages and disadvantages of the catalysts so far employed or proposed for the low temperature catalytic combustion of hydrocarbons, in both static and mobile energy production devices, are discussed. Furthermore, a La0.9Ce0.1CoO3\ub1\u3b4 perovskite has been prepared by a recently proposed new flame-hydrolysis (FH) method. This proved a high surface area, thermally highly resistant catalyst. The partial substitution of Ce for La in such a cobaltite led to a relatively low suprafacial activity, but to a high bulk oxygen mobility, leading to high intrafacial activity for the catalytic flameless combustion of methane. The best operating conditions have been also found, for supporting the so prepared active phase, by dip-coating of a cordieritic honeycomb support, after deposition of an alumina primer. A very active and durable catalyst was so obtained, useful for practical application in the environmentally friendly low temperature combustion of methane

Newer Antiepileptic Drugs in Status Epilepticus: Prescription Trends and Outcomes in Comparison with Traditional Agents.

Newer antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) are increasingly prescribed; however, relatively limited data are available regarding their use in status epilepticus (SE) and the impact on outcome. The aim of this study was to explore the evolution in prescription patterns of newer and traditional AEDs in this clinical setting, and their association with prognosis. We analyzed our prospective adult SE registry over a 10-year period (2007-2016) and assessed the yearly use of newer and traditional AEDs and their association with mortality, return to baseline conditions at discharge, and SE refractoriness, defined as treatment resistance to two AEDs, including benzodiazepines. In 884 SE episodes, corresponding to 719 patients, the prescription of at least one newer AED increased from 0.38 per SE episode in 2007 to 1.24 per SE episode in 2016 (mostly due to the introduction of levetiracetam and lacosamide). Traditional AEDs (excluding benzodiazepines) decreased over time from 0.74 in 2007 to 0.41 in 2016, correlating with the decreasing use of phenytoin. The prescription of newer AEDs was independently associated with a lower chance of return to baseline conditions at discharge (odds ratio [OR] 0.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.40-0.84) and a higher rate of SE refractoriness (OR 19.84, 95% CI 12.76-30.84), but not with changes in mortality (OR 1.08, 95% CI 0.58-2.00). We observed a growing trend in the prescription of newer AEDs in SE over the last decade; however, our findings might suggest an associated increased risk of SE refractoriness and new disability at hospital discharge. Pending prospective, comparative studies, this may justify some caution in the routine use of newer AEDs in SE

Analysing passenger arrivals rates and waiting time at bus stops

The present study investigates the rather under-explored topic of passenger waiting times at public transport facilities. Using data collected from part of London’s bus network by means of physical counts, measurements and observations, and complemented by on-site passenger interviews, the waiting behaviour is analysed for a number of bus stops served by different numbers of lines. The analysis employs a wide range of statistical methods and tools, and concentrates on three aspects: passenger interarrival time, passenger actual waiting time, and passenger perceived waiting time. The results suggest that there is a clear difference in terms of the passenger arrivals rate between stops served by up to two lines and stops served by three lines or more, as it appears that passengers in the former time their arrival at the stop to coincide with bus arrivals as much as possible. Also, it is found that waiting time at such stops is best approximated by the exponential distribution, with the gamma distribution also offering an adequate fit. Finally, as concerns the passengers’ perception of waiting time, it is found that this follows a lognormal or a gamma distribution, and generally overestimates the actual waiting time; however, this effect fades as the actual waiting time increases

Characterisation of Ru/C catalysts for ammonia synthesis by oxygen chemisorption

A standard chemisorption procedure has been set up for the determination of Ru dispersion in Ru/C catalysts. Pulse chemisorption of oxygen was carried out at 0 \ub0C, after having proved that no corrosive chemisorption phenomena are present. An average chemisorption stoichiometry was experimentally determined through measurements on Ru black. The procedure was applied to the investigation of promoted and unpromoted Ru/C catalysts for ammonia synthesis, supported on two different carbon supports. The main factor influencing Ru dispersion showed to be Ru loading, while the addition of even large amounts of Ba\u2013Cs\u2013K promoters has practically no influence. It is also briefly discussed how such results can help in elucidating several aspects of the behaviour of Ru/C as catalyst for ammonia synthesis

Promoters state and catalyst activation during ammonia synthesis over Ru/C

Carbon-supported, promoted Ru-based catalysts for ammonia synthesis proved to be interesting substitutes for the traditional Fe-based ones. A debate recently arose on the active state of promoters, mainly Cs and Ba, and on the effect of the latter on Ru active sites. In the present work a set of Ba-, Cs- and K-promoted samples has been characterised by various techniques. Higher H2 and O2 uptakes have been observed during reduction and chemisorption, respectively, on Cs- and K-promoted samples supported on graphitised carbon. No evidence of this has been observed with samples supported on active carbon. This is in line with the hypothesis of alkaline promoters partial reduction under the ammonia synthesis conditions, favoured by the formation of graphite intercalation compounds. Furthermore, some suggestions are here introduced on the beneficial role of Ba, especially in increasing the support resistance to methanation. Finally, the efficacy of catalyst activation was found to depend on the nature of Ru precursor. Indeed, a prolonged activation at relatively high temperature is usually needed with chloride precursors, to remove the counterion, a poison for the catalyst, whereas less dramatic conditions are required for different precursors, such as nitrosylnitrate

Process simulation and optimization of H-2 production from ethanol steam reforming and its use in fuel cells. 2 : Process analysis and optimization

The feasibility of power cogeneration through fuel cells using bioethanol with different concentration has been considered. Data and layout have been inspired by an existing unit Helbio, GH2-BE-5000 (5 kW(electrical) + 5 kW(thermal)) system for combined heat and power generation (CHP). The system is constituted by six reactors connected in series for hydrogen production and purification and by a fuel cell of the mentioned capacity. To evaluate process efficiency and the possibility to operate with diluted bioethanol feed, characterized by lower purification cost, different process layouts have been tested. Particular attention is paid to the intensification of the heat exchange network, to increase the overall plant efficiency. Heat supply to the steam reformer has been accomplished by burning part of the reformate, since diluted ethanol is not suitable to feed the burner as in the experimental process layout. The water/ethanol feeding ratio has been taken as major parameter for simulation. An increase of this variable improved H-2 yield due to promotion of the water gas shift reaction and lower impact of the hydrogen-consuming methanation step. However, higher heat input was required by the reformer, implying the delivery of a higher fraction of the reformate to the burner instead than to the fuel cell. This means lower electric output and efficiency. However, the presence of a high enthalpy steam exhaust increased the available thermal output, with consequent increase of the thermal and overall efficiency of the plant