A comprehensive view of intelligent transport systems for urban smart mobility

Information accuracy and decision-making speed are of paramount importance in managing today’s mobility of goods and people inside the city. Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) can provide road users with updated information and forecasts on both traffic and weather conditions. The result is a higher efficiency in the use of resources and a better management of physical flows. The purpose of this paper is to conduct an in-depth review on the role of ITS supporting urban Smart Mobility, in order to identify the main gaps in the literature and propose future research streams. In total, 71 papers have been thoroughly analysed: they are mainly focused on technology, with limited attention to value creation. Even though some benefits have been examined, a general lack of quantitative models emerged. Eventually, there is a lack of contributions considering both people and freight transport, even if they are strongly related, especially in an urban environment

Validation of a Dynamic Model of the Brindisi Pilot Plant

Abstract In this work, a dynamic model of the Brindisi CO2 capture pilot plant is implemented in K-spice general simulation tool. The model is used to simulate relevant step changes performed during a pilot plant campaign conducted in the EU project Octavius in May and June 2013. Model results are compared to dynamic pilot plant data and it shows good transient agreement to the experimental results. The model is therefore able to capture the main process dynamics. An offset is, however, observed in some cases, especially during the initial simulation time. This is most likely caused by the fact that the model was given a steady state starting point, while the pilot plant was not necessarily completely at steady state when the step change was introduced. It is challenging to ensure steady state conditions prior to dynamic tests in a pilot plant, especially for one that is connected to a real power production unit as this one. Power production variations will act as disturbances to the capture unit, and due to slow transients in the solvent inventory of the capture unit, it will take several hours to ensure steady state conditions with stable inlet flue gas conditions

Supply Chain Finance: Modelling a Dynamic Discounting Programme

In the last 10 years, new financing opportunities (known as “Supply Chain Finance” or SCF) arose, exploiting the strength of new ICTs and supply chain links to optimise the working capital and create value for the organisations involved. One of the solutions within the SCF landscape, called Dynamic Discounting (DD), utilises trade process visibility granted by an ICT platform to allow the dynamic settlement of invoices in a buyer-supplier relation: for every day of payment in advance with respect to a pre- defined baseline, the supplier grants to the buyer a discount on the invoice nominal value. DD is a supply management tool for which a cash-rich anchor buyer can let suppliers (especially SMEs) fast-access cash, while gaining a relatively high rate of return. This paper aims to estimate, through the development of an analytical model, the potential benefit sof using a DD model in a buyer-supplier relation. After a brief review of relevant literature, the paper presents amodel that compares, for the supplier, the cost of granting a discount to the buyer with the benefit of an early payment, whereas for the buyer, the benefit of receiving a discount with the financial cost of an early settlement. This paper fills the gap in literature related to the definition of the processes underlying the adoption of DD, and more broadly the need for models to assess the benefits of the most innovative SCF schemas

Supply chain finance: a literature review

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is twofold: to classify the research to-date on supply chain finance (SCF) according to the main themes and methods, and to propose directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach – The review is based on 119 papers mainly published from 2000 to 2014 in international peer-reviewed journals and in the proceedings of international conferences. Findings – The articles that provide a definition of SCF reflect two major perspectives: the “finance oriented” perspective – focused on short-term solutions provided by financial institutions, addressing accounts payable and receivable – and the “supply chain oriented” perspective – which might not involve a financial institution, and is focused on working capital optimisation in terms of accounts payable, receivable, inventories, and sometimes even on fixed asset financing. Research limitations/implications – While efforts were made to be all-inclusive, significant research efforts may have been inadvertently omitted. However, the authors believe that this review is an accurate representation of the body of research on SCF published during the specified time frame, and feel that confidence may be placed on the resulting assessments. Originality/value – The paper presents a comprehensive summary of previous research on this topic and identifies the most important issues that need to be addressed in future research. On the basis of the identified gaps in the literature, four key issues have been highlighted which should be addressed in future research

Evaluation of the DMX Process for Industrial Pilot Demonstration – Methodology and Results

The SP3 Subproject of the OCTAVIUS EU FP7 project was dedicated to the demonstration of the DMX CO2 capture process, developed by IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) and licensed by PROSERNAT, on the 3.5 MWe equivalent industrial pilot of ENEL at Brindisi. The DMX process is based on the particular property of demixing solvents to form, for specific CO2 loadings and temperature conditions, two immiscible liquid phases. The light phase being almost free of CO2, only the high capacity heavy phase is sent to the stripper, which makes possible energy savings but also requires an adapted process flow scheme and extra equipment. Prior to launch the corresponding retrofit and perform the pilot tests, two conditions were settled. First, a quantitative evaluation of the process must show a significant interest in comparison with the benchmark MEA 30wt.%. To evaluate this first conditions, 24 criteria were considered. Second, an acceptable cost for the retrofit of the existing industrial pilot, determined from a Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) study must be obtained. Most of this paper deals with the evaluation of these two conditions which ended in November 2013 and a small section is dedicated to the FEED study. It is shown that most of the parameters considered for the process evaluation are in good agreement with the initial targets. The proposed evaluation methodology could be used for any new process prior to demonstration. © 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of GHGT

DNA Barcoding as a tool for Zoological Taxonomy: Identification of bony fish in the Mediterranean Sea

The description of all the species present in nature is a vast task to be fulfilled by using the classical approach of morphological description of the organisms. In recent years, the traditional taxonomy, based primarily on identification keys of species, has shown a number of limitations in the use of the distinctive features in many animal taxa and inconsistencies with the genetic data. Furthermore, the increasing need to get a true estimate of biodiversity has led Zoological Taxonomy to seek new approaches and methodologies to support the traditional methods. The classification procedure has added modern criteriasuch as the evolutionary relationships and the genetic, biochemical and morphological characteristics of the organisms.Until now the Linnean binomial was the only abbreviated code associated with the description of the morphology of a species. The new technologies aim to achieve a short nucleotide sequence of the DNA to be used as an unique and solely label for a particular species, a specific genetic barcode. For both morphological and genetic approaches, skills and experience are required. Taxonomy is one of zoological disciplines that has been benefited from the achievements reached by modern molecular biotechnology. Using a molecular approach it is possible to identify cryptic species, to establish a family relationship between species and their membership of taxonomic categories or to reconstruct the evolutionary history of a taxon

Signals from the deep-sea: Genetic structure, morphometric analysis, and ecological implications of Cyclothone braueri (Pisces, Gonostomatidae) early life stages in the Central Mediterranean Sea

Cyclothone braueri (Stomiiformes, Gonostomatidae) is a widely distributed fish inhabiting the mesopelagic zone of marine tropical and temperate waters. Constituting one of the largest biomasses of the ocean, C. braueri is a key element in most of the ecological processes occurring in the twilight layer. We focused on the ecological processes linked to early life stages in relation to marine pelagic environmental drivers (temperature, salinity, food availability and geostrophic currents) considering different regions of the Central Mediterranean Sea. A multivariate morphometric analysis was carried out using six parameters with the aim of discerning different larval morphotypes, while a fragment of 367 bp representing the 12S ribosomal RNA gene was used to perform molecular analyses aimed at determining the intraspecific genetic variability. Analysis highlighted two geographically distinct morphotypes not genetically discernible and related to the different nutritional conditions due to spatial heterogeneities in terms of temperature and food availability. The body depth (BD) emerged as an appropriate morphometric parameter to detect the larval condition in this species. Molecular analysis highlighted a moderate genetic divergence in the fish population, showing the recurrence of two phylogroups not geographically separated

Cross-border B2C e-commerce to Greater China and the role of logistics: a literature review

Purpose: This paper reviews scientific publications in the field of logistics underlying cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) to China. A focus on the role played in this complex process by other countries of the Greater China is carried out. The purpose of this paper is to outline directions for future research to encourage CBEC development. Design/methodology/approach: The review is based on 32 papers published from 2002 to 2016 in international peer-reviewed journals or proceedings of international conferences, retrieved from bibliographic databases and science search engines. Findings: CBEC to China is gaining increasing interest, as shown by the rising amount of publications from 2013 onwards. Within these contributions, however, studies specifically investigating the relation between logistics and e-commerce, commonly acknowledged as critical, seem to lack. Many contributions are descriptive and do not provide specific insights on how to manage the complexities of CBEC logistics in this region. Stemming from the review, a set of possible development areas are identified, including distribution network design, i.e. deciding how to shape the CBEC distribution structure, and logistics outsourcing, i.e. determining whether to manage logistics activities in-house or through third parties. Originality/value: To the extent of the authorsâ knowledge, this paper is the first one to classify the existing body of knowledge on logistics supporting CBEC. Its main contribution is the critical identification of current research gaps and the proposal of key themes for future research. From a managerial perspective, it helps export and logistics managers identify the key challenges of managing CBEC logistics to Greater China