Effects of Energy Efficiency Measures in the Beef Cold Chain: A Life Cycle-based Study

Abstract Circular economy and industrial symbiosis represent a production and consumption model involving sharing, lending, reusing, and recycling existing materials and products in the most efficient way to increase sustainability and reduce or eliminate waste. Beef production has a high impact on the environment in different impact categories, especially those activities related to livestock breeding and feeding. In this study, a life cycle assessment and a life cycle cost evaluation are carried out investigating potential energy efficiency measures to promote industrial symbiosis scenarios referring to a proposed baseline scenario. Three main potential measures are evaluated: energy recovery from waste via anaerobic digestion, integration of renewable sources at warehouses, including solar PV panels, and the replacement of auxiliary equipment at the retailer. It was found that energy reconversion of food waste through anaerobic digestion and cogeneration provides the most valuable benefits to the supply chain. From the economic perspective, using a conventional life cycle cost assessment, the energy production from the use of wastes for anaerobic digestion proved to be the best potential option

Environmental and Energetic Performance of Crematorium Plants

In recent years, in Italy, the use of cremation has grown considerably, consequently, the demand for new facilities in the area has also increased. However, the installation of new plants is often hindered by environmental associations who fear the environmental impacts of the crematoria. Scientific memoirs relating to the environmental aspects of this activity are generally intended for specific conferences, regulation also may vary from region to region. It is necessary to exercise transparency and comparison about the polluting emissions of other environmentally relevant activities. The present paper wants to make available a document with a high technical and scientific profile, which provides a methodological framework for assessing the impacts of crematoriums. To support the analysis experimental surveys on pollutant emissions, their local impact and compliance with current regulations are reported. In addition, the memorandum presents a feasibility project for the crematorium temple of Gemona del Friuli (Udine - Italy). The project wants to achieve two energy and environmental objectives, based on the thermal recovery of the energies generated by the combustion of the wooden coffin and the used fuel, aiming at the minimization of the impact. The first target is to make the crematorium independent from external energy networks (off-grid), while the second is to supply a district heating service for some users operating at short distances (i.e., two schools, a gym, and a swimming pool). From the environmental point of view, we reduce the carbon footprint of the activity and harmful emissions

Disentangling cardiovascular control mechanisms during head-down tilt via joint transfer entropy and self-entropy decompositions

A full decomposition of the predictive entropy (PE) of the spontaneous variations of the heart period (HP) given systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and respiration (R) is proposed. The PE of HP is decomposed into the joint transfer entropy (JTE) from SAP and R to HP and self-entropy (SE) of HP. The SE is the sum of three terms quantifying the synergistic/redundant contributions of HP and SAP, when taken individually and jointly, to SE and one term conditioned on HP and SAP denoted as the conditional SE (CSE) of HP given SAP and R. The JTE from SAP and R to HP is the sum of two terms attributable to SAP or R plus an extra term describing the redundant/synergistic contribution to the JTE. All quantities were computed during cardiopulmonary loading induced by -25\uc2\ub0 head-down tilt (HDT) via a multivariate linear regression approach. We found that: (i) the PE of HP decreases during HDT; (ii) the decrease of PE is attributable to a lessening of SE of HP, while the JTE from SAP and R to HP remains constant; (iii) the SE of HP is dominant over the JTE from SAP and R to HP and the CSE of HP given SAP and R is prevailing over the SE of HP due to SAP and R both in supine position and during HDT; (iv) all terms of the decompositions of JTE from SAP and R to HP and SE of HP due to SAP and R were not affected by HDT; (v) the decrease of the SE of HP during HDT was attributed to the reduction of the CSE of HP given SAP and R; (vi) redundancy of SAP and R is prevailing over synergy in the information transferred into HP both in supine position and during HDT, while in the HP information storage synergy and redundancy are more balanced. The approach suggests that the larger complexity of the cardiac control during HDT is unrelated to the baroreflex control and cardiopulmonary reflexes and may be related to central commands and/or modifications of the dynamical properties of the sinus node

Complexity analyses show two distinct types of nonlinear dynamics in short heart period variability recordings

Two diverse complexity metrics quantifying time irreversibility and local prediction, in connection with a surrogate data approach, were utilized to detect nonlinear dynamics in short heart period (HP) variability series recorded in fetuses, as a function of the gestational period, and in healthy humans, as a function of the magnitude of the orthostatic challenge. The metrics indicated the presence of two distinct types of nonlinear HP dynamics characterized by diverse ranges of time scales. These findings stress the need to render more specific the analysis of nonlinear components of HP dynamics by accounting for different temporal scales

The preoperative serum ratio of total prostate specific antigen (PSA) to free testosterone (FT), PSA/FT index ratio, and prostate cancer. Results in 220 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy

Objectives: To evaluate associations of preoperative total prostate specific antigen (PSA) to free testosterone (FT), the PSA/FT index ratio, with features of pathology prostate cancer (PCA) and to investigate its prognostic potential in clustering the PCA population. Patients and methods: After excluding criteria, the records of 220 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) were retrospectively reviewed. Serum samples of PSA, total testosterone (TT) and FT were collected at 8.00 A.M., one month after biopsies and before RP. The PSA/FT ratio was computed in the population of patients who were clustered in groups according to ranking intervals of the PSA/FT ratio which identified at least 4 clusters which were coded as A, B, C, and D. The independent associations of the PSA/FT index ratio were assessed by statistical methods and a two-sided P < 0.05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. Results: TT correlated to FT which was a significant predictor of PSA in the population of patients who were subsequently clustered, according to increasing interval values of the PSA/FT index ratio, in groups that showed a stronger linear association of FT with PSA. The PSA/FT index ratio significantly associated with pathology features of prostate cancer such as pathology Gleason score (pGS), invasion of the seminal vesicles (pT3b), proportion of positive cores (P+) and proportion of cancer involving the volume of the prostate. In the population of patients, TT, PSA/FT index ratio and P+ independently associated with pGS 65 7 and pT3b; moreover, the odds ratio (OR) of the PSA/FT index ratio resulted 9.11 which was stronger than TT (OR = 1.11) and P+ (OR = 8.84). In the PCA population, TT, PSA/FT index ratio and P+ also independently associated with pT3b PCA; interestingly, the OR of PSA/FT index resulted 54.91 which was stronger than TT (OR = 1.31) and P+ (26.43). Conclusions: Preoperative PSA/FT index ratio is an independent strong factor which directly associates with aggressive features of pathology PCA; moreover, it might express prognostic potential for clustering the patient population in risk classes. Confirmatory studies are required

Responses to hydric stress in the seed-borne necrotrophic fungus Alternaria brassicicola

Alternaria brassicicola is a necrotrophic fungus causing black spot disease and is an economically important seed-borne pathogen of cultivated brassicas. Seed transmission is a crucial component of its parasitic cycle as it promotes long-term survival and dispersal. Recent studies, conducted with the Arabidopsis thaliana/A. brassicicola pathosystem, showed that the level of susceptibility of the fungus to water stress strongly influenced its seed transmission ability. In this study, we gained further insights into the mechanisms involved in the seed infection process by analyzing the transcriptomic and metabolomic responses of germinated spores of A. brassicicola exposed to water stress. Then, the repertoire of putative hydrophilins, a group of proteins that are assumed to be involved in cellular dehydration tolerance, was established in A. brassicicola based on the expression data and additional structural and biochemical criteria. Phenotyping of single deletion mutants deficient for fungal hydrophilin-like proteins showed that they were affected in their transmission to A. thaliana seeds, although their aggressiveness on host vegetative tissues remained intact

1,2-Benzisothiazole Derivatives Bearing 4-, 5-, or 6-Alkyl/arylcarboxamide Moieties Inhibit Carbonic Anhydrase Isoform IX (CAIX) and Cell Proliferation under Hypoxic Conditions

Three novel series of 1,2-benzisothiazole derivatives have been developed as inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase isoform IX. Compounds 5c and 5j, tested in vitro on the human colon cell line HT-29, blocked the growth of cells cultured under chemically induced hypoxic conditions, displaying a specific activity against cancer cells characterized by CAIX up-regulation. Moreover, a synergistic activity of 5c with SN-38 (the active metabolite of irinotecan) and 5-fluorouracil on cell proliferation under hypoxic conditions was demonstrated