Development of an Italian catalogue of potential CO2storage sites: an approach from deep wells data

Stabilize and reduce the atmospheric concentration of anthropogenic greenhouse gases is one of the principal goal that have to be accomplished in short time, in order to reduce the climate changes and the global warming, following the World Energy Outlook 2007 program by IEA. The most promising remedy, proposed for large CO2 sources like thermoelectric power plants, refineries and cement industries, is to separate the flue gas capturing the CO2 and to store it into deep sub-surface geological reservoirs, such as deep saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas fields and unminable coal beds. Among these options, deep saline aquifers are considered the reservoirs with the larger storage potentiality, as a consequence of a wide availability with respect to deep coal seems, depleted oil fields and gas reservoirs. The identification of a possible storage site necessarily passes through the demonstration that CO2 can be injected in extremely safe conditions into geological deep formations, with impermeable caprock above the aquifer/s, which physic-chemical-mineralogical conditions are useful to a better mineral and solubility trapping as well as the hydrodynamic or physical/ structural ones. In order to support the identification of potential storage reservoirs in Italy, INGV jointly with CESI RICERCA S.p.A. accomplished a detailed reworking of available geological, geophysical, geochemical and seismological data, in order to support the existing European GESTCO as well as the CO2GeoCapacity projects. Aim of this work is to establish some site selection criteria to demonstrate the possibility of the geological storage of CO2 in Italy, even if it is located in an active geodynamical domain. This research started from the study of 7575 wells drilled on Italian territory during the last 50 years for gas/oil and geothermal exploration. Among this data-set as a whole, only 1700 wells (deeper than 800 m) have been selected. Only 1290 of these wells have a public-available composite log and fit with the basic prerequisites for CO2 storage potential, mostly as deep saline aquifer/s presence. Wells data have been organized into a geodatabase containing information about the nature and the thickness of geological formations, the presence of fresh, saline or brackish water, brine, gas and oil, the underground temperature, the permeability, porosity and geochemical characteristics of the caprock and the reservoirs lithologies. Available maps, seismic and geological profiles containing or closer to the analyzed wells have been catalogued too. In order to constrain the supercritical behaviour of the CO2 and to prevent the escape of gaseous CO2 to the surface, a first evaluation of the caprock presence and quality has been done on these selected wells. Using a numerical parameterization of the caprock lithologies, a “Caprock Quality Factor” (Fbp) has been defined, which clustered the wells into 5 different classes of caprock impermeability (ranging between the lowest 1 to highest 5). The analysis shows that more than 50% of the selected wells have an Fbp Factor between 4 and 5 (good and optimal quality of caprock), and are mostly located in foredeep basins of the Alps-Apenninic Chain. The geodatabase also includes: i) the seismogenetic sources (INGV DISS 3.0.4 Database of Individual Seismogenetic Sources), ii) an elaboration of seismic events catalogues (INGV CFTI, CPTI04, NT4.1), iii) the Diffuse Degassing Structures (DDS), as part of the INGV project V5 diffuse degassing in Italy geodatabase, considered as “CO2 analogue” field-tests, iv) the distribution of the thermal anomalies on the Italian Territory, linked to the presence of volcanic CO2 emissions, in order to consider the CO2 diffuse degassing risk assessment on the Italian territory Successively it has been created a geodatabase on the nature and quality of deep aquifers for the high-ranking wells sub-dataset (where the aquifers data are available), containing the following parameters: i) presence of one or more aquifers deeper than 800 meters; ii) thickness of the aquifer/s; iii) lithology of the reservoir/s; iv) available chemical analysis; v) distance from closer power plants or other anthropogenic CO2 sources.The final aim of these work is to help to find potential areas in Italy where CO2 storage feasibility studies can be done. In these cases it is necessary to implement the knowledge by: i) better evaluation of saline aquifer quality; ii) estimation of CO2 storage capacity by 3D-modeling of deep crustal structures; iii) fluid-dynamic and geochemical modelling of water-rock-CO2 interaction paths

Simultaneous determination of the kinetics of cardiac output, systemic O2 delivery and lung O2 uptake at exercise onset in men.

We tested whether the kinetics of systemic O2 delivery (Q'aO2) at exercise start was faster than that of lung O2 uptake (V' O2), being dictated by that of cardiac output (Q'), and whether changes in Q' would explain the postulated rapid phase of the V'O2 increase. Simultaneous determinations of beat-by-beat (BBB) Q' and Q' aO2, and breath-by-breath V'O2 at the onset of constant load exercises at 50 and 100 W were obtained on six men (age 24.2 +/-3.2 years, maximal aerobic power 333 +/- 61 W). V'O2 was determined using Grønlund’s algorithm. Q' was computed from BBB stroke volume (Qst, from arterial pulse pressure profiles) and heart rate (fH, electrocardiograpy) and calibrated against a steadystate method. This, along with the time course of hemoglobin concentration and arterial O2 saturation (infrared oximetry) allowed computation of BBB Q'aO2. The Q', Q'aO2 and V'O2 kinetics were analyzed with single and double exponential models. fH, Qst, Q', and V'O2 increased upon exercise onset to reach a new steady state. The kinetics of Q'aO2 had the same time constants as that of Q'. The latter was twofold faster than that of V'O2. The V'O2 kinetics were faster than previously reported for muscle phosphocreatine decrease. Within a two-phase model, because of the Fick equation, the amplitude of phase I Q' changes fully explained the phase I of V'O2 increase. We suggest that in unsteady states, lung V' O2 is dissociated from muscle O2 consumption. The two components of Q' and Q'aO2 kinetics may reflect vagal withdrawal and sympathetic activation

The role of hole transport between dyes in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

In dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) photogenerated positive charges are normally considered to be carried away from the dyes by a separate phase of hole-transporting material (HTM). We show that there can also be significant transport within the dye monolayer itself before the hole reaches the HTM. We quantify the fraction of dye regeneration in solid-state DSSCs that can be attributed to this process. By using cyclic voltammetry and transient anisotropy spectroscopy, we demonstrate that the rate of interdye hole transport is prevented both on micrometer and nanometer length scales by reducing the dye loading on the TiO₂ surface. The dye regeneration yield is quantified for films with high and low dye loadings (with and without hole percolation in the dye monolayer) infiltrated with varying levels of HTM. Interdye hole transport can account for >50% of the overall dye regeneration with low HTM pore filling. This is reduced to about 5% when the infiltration of the HTM in the pores is optimized in 2 μm thick films. Finally, we use hole transport in the dye monolayer to characterize the spatial distribution of the HTM phase in the pores of the dyed mesoporous TiO₂

Catheter-related thrombosis in hematologic patients

For many years central venous catheters (CVC) have been utilized to monitor hemodynamics and to deliver parenteral nutrition, blood products, pharmacological therapies or infusion fluids. Recently, CVC use has greatly increased with significant impact on the administration of chemotherapy, stem cell transplantation and other treatments to cancer patients. However, CVC use may be accompanied by a variety of side-effects, which increase with the duration of implantation. The most common catheter-related complications are thrombotic events and blood-stream infections. The true incidence of these complications is still uncertain and has changed over time due to CVC device improvement. More data are available in solid tumor than in oncohematologic patients. Recently, much attention has been paid to the issues of prevention and treatment of these complications. Some strategies have been proposed: fixed dose warfarin or low molecular weight heparins have been evaluated in some clinical trials of thromboprophylaxis in this condition. However, more studies are still needed to address this issue. This review will focus on CVC use and complications in oncohematologic patients

Security devices based on liquid crystals doped with a colour dye

Liquid crystal properties make them useful for the development of security devices in applications of authentication and detection of fakes. Induced orientation of liquid crystal molecules and birefringence are the two main properties used in security devices. Employing liquid crystal and dichroic colorants, we have developed devices that show, with the aid of a polarizer, multiple images on each side of the device. Rubbed polyimide is used as alignment layer on each substrate of the LC cell. By rubbing the polyimide in different directions in each substrate it is possible to create any kind of symbols, drawings or motifs with a greyscale; the more complex the created device is, the more difficult is to fake it. To identify the motifs it is necessary to use polarized light. Depending on whether the polarizer is located in front of the LC cell or behind it, different motifs from one or the other substrate are shown. The effect arises from the dopant colour dye added to the liquid crystal, the induced orientation and the twist structure. In practice, a grazing reflection on a dielectric surface is polarized enough to see the effect. Any LC flat panel display can obviously be used as backlight as well

Lag-Optimized Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent Cerebrovascular Reactivity Estimates Derived From Breathing Task Data Have a Stronger Relationship With Baseline Cerebral Blood Flow

Published: 15 June 2022Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), an important indicator of cerebrovascular health, is commonly studied with the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent functional MRI (BOLD-fMRI) response to a vasoactive stimulus. Theoretical and empirical evidence suggests that baseline cerebral blood flow (CBF) modulates BOLD signal amplitude and may influence BOLD-CVR estimates. We address how acquisition and modeling choices affect the relationship between baseline cerebral blood flow (bCBF) and BOLD-CVR: whether BOLD-CVR is modeled with the inclusion of a breathing task, and whether BOLD-CVR amplitudes are optimized for hemodynamic lag effects. We assessed between-subject correlations of average GM values and within-subject spatial correlations across cortical regions. Our results suggest that a breathing task addition to a resting-state acquisition, alongside lag-optimization within BOLD-CVR modeling, can improve BOLD-CVR correlations with bCBF, both between- and within-subjects, likely because these CVR estimates are more physiologically accurate. We report positive correlations between bCBF and BOLD-CVR, both between- and within-subjects. The physiological explanation of this positive correlation is unclear; research with larger samples and tightly controlled vasoactive stimuli is needed. Insights into what drives variability in BOLD-CVR measurements and related measurements of cerebrovascular function are particularly relevant when interpreting results in populations with altered vascular and/or metabolic baselines or impaired cerebrovascular reserve.This work was supported by the Center for Translational Imaging at Northwestern University. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health [K12HD073945]. KZ was supported by an NIH-funded training program [T32EB025766]. SM was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program [Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 713673] and a fellowship from La Caixa Foundation [ID 100010434, fellowship code LCF/BQ/IN17/11620063]. CC-G was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [Ramon y Cajal Fellowship, RYC2017-21845], the Basque Government [BERC 2018-2021 and PIBA_2019_104], and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities [MICINN; PID2019- 105520GB-100]

Clinical characteristics and management of cancer-associated acute venous thromboembolism: findings from the MASTER Registry.

Background: Clinical characteristics and management of acute deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (PE) have been reported to be different in patients with and without cancer. The aim of this paper was to provide information on clinical characteristics and management of acute venous thromboembolism in patients with cancer by means of a large prospective registry. Design and Methods: MASTER is a multicenter registry of consecutively recruited patients with symptomatic, objectively confirmed, acute venous thromboembolism. Information about clinical characteristics and management was collected by an electronic data network at the time of the index event. Results: A total of 2119 patients were enrolled, of whom 424 (20%) had cancer. The incidence of bilateral lower limb deep vein thrombosis was significantly higher in patients with cancer than in patients without cancer (8.5% versus 4.6%; p<0.01), as were the rates of iliocaval thombosis (22.6% versus 14%; p<0.001), and upper limb deep vein thrombosis (9.9% versus 4.8%; p<0.001). Major bleeding (3.3% versus 1.1%; p=0.001), in-hospital treatment (73.3% versus 66.6%; p=0.02) and inferior vena cava filter implantation (7.3% versus 4.1%; p=0.005) were significantly more frequent in patients with cancer, in whom oral anticoagulants were less often used (64.2% versus 82%; p<0.0001). Conclusions: The clinical presentation of acute venous thromboembolism is different and often more extensive in cancer patients than in patients free from malignancy. Moreover, the management of the acute phase of venous thromboembolism is more problematic in cancer patients, especially because of a higher rate of major bleeding and the need for implantation of inferior vena cava filters

Phase I dynamics of cardiac output, systemic O2 delivery and lung O2 uptake at exercise onset in men in acute normobaric hypoxia.

We tested the hypothesis that vagal withdrawal plays a role in the rapid (phase I) cardiopulmonary response to exercise. To this aim, in five men (24.6+/-3.4 yr, 82.1+/-13.7 kg, maximal aerobic power 330+/-67 W), we determined beat-by-beat cardiac output (Q), oxygen delivery (QaO2), and breath-by-breath lung oxygen uptake (VO2) at light exercise (50 and 100 W) in normoxia and acute hypoxia (fraction of inspired O2=0.11), because the latter reduces resting vagal activity. We computed Q from stroke volume (Qst, by model flow) and heart rate (fH, electrocardiography), and QaO2 from Q and arterial O2 concentration. Double exponentials were fitted to the data. In hypoxia compared with normoxia, steady-state fH and Q were higher, and Qst and VO2 were unchanged. QaO2 was unchanged at rest and lower at exercise. During transients, amplitude of phase I (A1) for VO2 was unchanged. For fH, Q and QaO2, A1 was lower. Phase I time constant (tau1) for QaO2 and VO2 was unchanged. The same was the case for Q at 100 W and for fH at 50 W. Qst kinetics were unaffected. In conclusion, the results do not fully support the hypothesis that vagal withdrawal determines phase I, because it was not completely suppressed. Although we can attribute the decrease in A1 of fH to a diminished degree of vagal withdrawal in hypoxia, this is not so for Qst. Thus the dual origin of the phase I of Q and QaO2, neural (vagal) and mechanical (venous return increase by muscle pump action), would rather be confirmed

A practical modification to a resting state fMRI protocol for improved characterization of cerebrovascular function

Available online 24 June 2021.Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), defined here as the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) response to a CO 2 pressure change, is a useful metric of cerebrovascular function. Both the amplitude and the timing (hemo- dynamic lag) of the CVR response can bring insight into the nature of a cerebrovascular pathology and aid in understanding noise confounds when using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to study neural ac- tivity. This research assessed a practical modification to a typical resting-state fMRI protocol, to improve the characterization of cerebrovascular function. In 9 healthy subjects, we modelled CVR and lag in three resting- state data segments, and in data segments which added a 2–3 minute breathing task to the start of a resting-state segment. Two different breathing tasks were used to induce fluctuations in arterial CO 2 pressure: a breath-hold task to induce hypercapnia (CO 2 increase) and a cued deep breathing task to induce hypocapnia (CO 2 decrease). Our analysis produced voxel-wise estimates of the amplitude (CVR) and timing (lag) of the BOLD-fMRI response to CO 2 by systematically shifting the CO 2 regressor in time to optimize the model fit. This optimization inher- ently increases gray matter CVR values and fit statistics. The inclusion of a simple breathing task, compared to a resting-state scan only, increases the number of voxels in the brain that have a significant relationship between CO 2 and BOLD-fMRI signals, and improves our confidence in the plausibility of voxel-wise CVR and hemody- namic lag estimates. We demonstrate the clinical utility and feasibility of this protocol in an incidental finding of Moyamoya disease, and explore the possibilities and challenges of using this protocol in younger populations. This hybrid protocol has direct applications for CVR mapping in both research and clinical settings and wider applications for fMRI denoising and interpretation.This research was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Na- tional Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the Na- tional Institutes of Health under award number K12HD073945. The pediatric dataset and cerebral palsy dataset were collected with sup- port of National Institutes of Health award R03 HD094615–01A1. The authors would like to acknowledge Marie Wasielewski and Carson Ingo for their support in acquiring these data. K.Z. was supported by an NIH-funded training program (T32EB025766). S.M. was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation pro- gram (Marie Sk ł odowska-Curie grant agreement No. 713673), a fel- lowship from La Caixa Foundation (ID 100010434, fellowship code LCF/BQ/IN17/11620063) and C.C.G was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Ramon y Cajal Fellowship, RYC-2017- 21845), the Basque Government (BERC 2018–2021 and PIBA_2019_104) and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICINN; PID2019–105520GB-100)