DUST GENERATION AND DISPERSION (PM10 AND PM2.5) IN THE AOSTA VALLEY: ANALYSIS WITH THE FARM MODEL

The aim of this work is to analyze the origin and the dispersion of the particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in a mountainous region: the Aosta Valley. To meet this goal, different simulations were performed, using the flexible air quality regional model (FARM), to study two scenarios: winter and summer situations. To evaluate the performance of the FARM model in order to simulate the air quality situation of the selected periods, a comparison of modelled results against observed air quality data was carried out for both primary pollutants and particulate matter next to the measurement stations . Farm performed well in simulating especially ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations, showing a good reproduction of both daily peaks and their daytime variations. PM model results revealed the tendency to under-predict the observed values, so we tried to use a different emission factor for the road traffic (Lohmeyer factor). The new results were good for the urban and suburban areas, but they give over-predictions close to highways. The PM characterisation provided by the model gives good results: in some different points of the analysis domain (mountain, plain and urban points) we found PM profiles wich reproduce expected values

Effect of Lactoferrin on Clinical Outcomes of Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: The LAC Randomized Clinical Trial

: As lactoferrin is a nutritional supplement with proven antiviral and immunomodulatory abilities, it may be used to improve the clinical course of COVID-19. The clinical efficacy and safety of bovine lactoferrin were evaluated in the LAC randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. A total of 218 hospitalized adult patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 were randomized to receive 800 mg/die oral bovine lactoferrin (n = 113) or placebo (n = 105), both given in combination with standard COVID-19 therapy. No differences in lactoferrin vs. placebo were observed in the primary outcomes: the proportion of death or intensive care unit admission (risk ratio of 1.06 (95% CI 0.63-1.79)) or proportion of discharge or National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) ≤ 2 within 14 days from enrollment (RR of 0.85 (95% CI 0.70-1.04)). Lactoferrin showed an excellent safety and tolerability profile. Even though bovine lactoferrin is safe and tolerable, our results do not support its use in hospitalized patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19

UTILIZZO DEL TITANIO COME LEGANTE IN ACCIAI A BASSA ATTIVAZIONE PER REATTORI A FUSIONE NUCLEARE

Utilizzo del titanio come legante in acciai a bassa attivazione per reattori a fusione nuclear

UTILIZZO DEL TITANIO COME LEGANTE IN ACCIAI A BASSA ATTIVAZIONE PER REATTORI A FUSIONE NUCLEARE

Utilizzo del titanio come legante in acciai a bassa attivazione per reattori a fusione nuclear

Preliminary results on a novel photo-bio-screen as a shading system in a kindergarten: Visible transmittance, visual comfort and energy demand for lighting

A study on a novel photo-bio screen (PBS) used as a shading system in a real building is presented. The green microalgal culture (Scenedesmus obliquus) of the PBS allows a screening of the direct sunlight and a production of biomass containing bioactive compounds. The PBS was tested in a kindergarten classroom at Saint Marcel (Aosta Valley, north-west of Italy) and monitored for 3 weeks (June-July 2016). The visible transmittance Tv of PBS was determined through in situ illuminance measurements, while the daylight amount in the room and the energy demand for lighting EDl were calculated through Diva-for-Rhino simulations (using the median measured Tv as input). The analysis was split in two phases: (i) the real room (with south-facing windows and external obstructions); (ii) the same room without obstructions, analyzed parametrically by changing the site (Turin, Östersund, Athens, and Abu Dhabi) and the orientation (south, west, north, and east). For both phases, the results for PBSs were compared to what obtained applying a traditional venetian blind VB of comparable light transmission to the window. From the monitoring campaign, the Tv of the PBS was found to have a quite high variation as a function of the dynamic boundary conditions, so an median value of 0.75 was identified as the reference Tv. From simulations, it was found that the daylight amount and the EDl for PBS and the VB were comparable, with slightly better results for the PBS in Turin and Athens and slightly better results for the VB in Östersund and Abu Dhabi

Multi-year measurements of columnar aerosol properties at an Alpine EuroSkyRad Station

A Prede POM-02 sun/sky aerosol photometer has been operating in the Saint-Christophe (Aosta Valley, Italy) site for almost 4 years, measuring sun irradiance and sky diffuse radiance for retrieving columnar aerosol optical properties. The peculiar position in an Alpine valley makes this site particularly significant for both assessing aerosols radiative impact on the high-sensitivity mountain climate and for tracing long-range transport of aerosol within the Mediterranean basin, acting as a background station. Indeed, limited local aerosol sources make this site particularly suitable to study air masses advections and interactions in such a complex environment. Complying with the EuroSkyRad network procedures, the SUNRAD.pack and SKYRAD.pack inversion algorithms have been used to determine aerosol parameters from direct and diffuse radiative fluxes, respectively. The resulting aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Ångström exponent values generally show very low mean AOD values, but with a large standard deviation due to periodical advection phenomena from natural (e.g. Saharan dust) and anthropogenic (polluted air from Po Valley) sources, as resulting from both specific aerosol optical properties and HYSPLIT backward trajectories analysis. A co-located optical particle sizer (OPS) and a lidar-ceilometer, allow to assess both the particle size distribution (PSD) at the surface and the vertical aerosol distribution for some of the most significant advection episodes carrying aerosols from external sources to the valley

Air Quality in the Italian Northwestern Alps during Year 2020: Assessment of the COVID-19 «Lockdown Effect» from Multi-Technique Observations and Models

The effect of COVID-19 confinement regulations on air quality in the northwestern Alps is assessed here based on measurements at five valley sites in different environmental contexts. Surface concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2), ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), together with a thorough microphysical (size), chemical, and optical (light absorption) aerosol characterisation, complemented by observations along the vertical column are considered. Even in the relatively pristine environment of the Alps, the «lockdown effect» is well discernible, both in the early confinement phase and in late 2020. The variations observed during the first confinement period in the city of Aosta (−61% NO, −43% NO2, +5% O3, +9% PM2.5, −12% PM10, relative to average 2015–2019 conditions) are attributed to the competing effects of air pollution lockdown-induced changes (−74%, −52%, +18%, −13%, −27%, relative to the counterfactual scenario for 2020 provided by a predictive statistical model trained on past measurements) and meteorology (+52%, +18%, −11%, +25%, +20%, relative to average conditions). These changes agree well with the ones obtained from a chemical transport model with modified emissions according to the restrictions. With regard to column-integrated quantities and vertical profiles, the NO2 column density decreases by >20% due to the lockdown, whereas tropospheric aerosols are mainly influenced by large-scale dynamics (transport of secondary particles from the Po basin and mineral dust from the Sahara desert and the Caspian Sea), except a shallow layer about 500 m thick close to the surface, possibly sensitive to curtailed emissions (especially exhaust and non-exhaust particles from road traffic and fugitive emissions from the industry)