Low environmental impact of alternatively supplied cars. Results of an investigation carried out in the North-East of Italy

The transport of both goods and passengers notably influences air quality. If strong decisions by the governments will not be taken, oil consumption for transport will be nearly doubled in 2030 if compared with 2000, thus considerably increasing the atmospheric presence of greenhouse gases. To boost the purchase of alternatively supplied cars would avoid serious, if not catastrophic, climatic changes. Our investigation shows what the situation is concerning new cars sold by SINA, an official concessionary firm of ten brands in the province of Pordenone, in the North East of Italy, covering about 40% of the local market. The supply types and the brands of the new cars sold in the branch offices of the firm from 2011 to August 2015 have been taken into consideration. The most sold cars are still petrol and diesel supplied, whereas alternatively supplied cars (liquefied oil gases, methane and electric) represent nowadays only 7.51% of the total in this territory. Processing of the data that have been put at our disposal by the firm allowed to compare the situation of the province of Pordenone with the Italian one, and to put in light the critical aspects still hindering the purchase of alternatively supplied cars

Eco-innovation in Valcucine for a circular economy

Recently, more and more companies are implementing good environmental practices. Environmental certifications, besides being valuable management tools for companies, given the opportunity to strengthen their role on the market. An example of such virtuous behavior is the case of Valcucine, an enterprise of the Livenza furniture district in Northern Italy. Valcucine focuses its care in the production of furniture, in particular of kitchen units, characterized by sustainable production, eco-compatibility of materials and the lowest possible environmental impacts. Valcucine wishes to transfer its philosophy to customers by improving product quality, rationalizing the use of recyclable virgin raw materials, employing also recycled materials and reducing dangerous emissions into the environment. For this reason, Valcucine obtained several certifications, such as ISO 14001, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), F**** (4 stars) Japanese Standard and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). In particular, the LEED certification, obtained for the Invitrum and Meccanica production lines, allows the enterprise both to differentiate from the competitors and to enter new segments of the market, such as the Arab Countries, where the LEED certification is renowned and appreciated. This gives a strong competitive advantage to Valcucine, working in a production field which has been saturated for many years. This virtuous behavior of the enterprise fits well in the principles inspiring circular economy and perfectly embraces the Goals 6 (Clean and Water Sanitation), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and 15 (Life on Land)

Assessment of the sustainability of wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) production: Application of a multi-criteria method to different farming systems in the province of Udine

Evaluating the economic, social and environmental impacts of different cultivation systems is an essential issue for the introduction of management practices that aim at both achieving more sustainable forms of land use and improving social well-being. A number of studies compared and assessed organic and conventional farms in relation to their multifunctional effects. However, to our knowledge there is no literature which took into account at the same time the multifunctional role of a greater number of different farming methods. In this paper an attempt is made to employ the multi-criteria method in order to conduct quantitative assessment of the degree of multi-functionality on three different farming methods, namely, conventional, organic and biodynamic. A species of leaf vegetable was considered, that is, wild rocket. The three farms taken into examination are all located in the province of Udine, Italy, with a maximum distance of about 20 km one from another. In all the three farms, greenhouses equipped with the same type of roofing were employed. The research was carried on for two consecutive years, that is, 2012 and 2013; spring, summer and autumn productions were considered. In this way we minimized the influence of some parameters (climatic conditions, luminosity, growing period), but the specific techniques adopted in the three farms were not optimized. The producers continued to utilize the methods usually employed in their farms, in order to obtain results showing the productive situation of the territory. The obtained information was used as input data for the multi-attribute model. Attributes and utility functions were organized under three major groups: economic, social and environmental parameters. Findings may be regarded simply as the results of a pilot study, as they were obtained on a small sample of farms, but suggest that the degree of multi-functionality is the most explicit in the case of the biodynamic farm, that has a better property and social structure

Determination of Cadmium and Lead in Vegetables by Stripping Chronopotentiometry

A method for the determination of cadmium and lead in vegetables by stripping chronopotentiometry, after digestion of the sample with concentrated sulphuric acid and dry-ashing, is described. Metal ions were concentrated as their amalgams on a glassy carbon-working electrode previously coated with a thin mercury film and then stripped by a suitable oxidant. Potential and time data were digitally derived and E was plotted versus dt/dE, thus increasing both the sensitivity of the method and the resolution of the analysis. Quantitative analysis was carried out by the method of standard additions; a good linearity was obtained in the range of examined concentrations, as was shown by the determination coefficients, which were 0.998 (n= 4) for cadmium and 0.993 (n= 4) for lead. Recoveries of 85\u2013100% for cadmium and of 84\u201397% for lead were obtained from a sample spiked at different levels. Accuracy was demonstrated by analysis of a matching reference sample of cabbage. The detection limits were 1.8 ng/g of wet mass for cadmium and 5.1 ng/g of wet mass for lead. The relative standard deviations (mean of nine determinations), evaluated on a real sample, were 6.7 and 6.2%, respectively. Results obtained on 10 different commercial samples of pepper (Capsicum annuum) and egg plant (Solanum melongena) were not significantly different from those obtained by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry. The average content was in the range 3.1\u201318.6 ng/g for cadmium and 38.2\u201364.3 ng/g for lead

The EMAS Registration of the Livenza Furniture District in the Province of Pordenone (Italy)

Abstract: One of the most important manufacturing areas of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region is the territory close to Pordenone, the Livenza furniture district. This industrial district, consisting of industries of wood, wood and cork products, furniture, straw articles, and weave materials, located in 11 municipalities of that area, was the \ufb01rst Italian district to obtain the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) Registration in 2006. Data and information from a questionnaire compiled by more than 100 \ufb01rms and 11 municipalities of the district were used to draw up the territorial environmental analysis (TEA). For the EMAS registration renewal, obtained in 2016, the TEA was updated by reviewing the methodology of the environmental impact evaluation: the ecological footprint(EF)wascomparedwiththecarryingcapacity(CC)ofthatarea. Theresultsputinlightthat theEFwasgreaterthantheCC.Severalactionsforreducingtheenvironmentalimpactsofthedistrict activities were highlighted

The EMAS Recognition of the Livenza Furniture District in the Province of Pordenone (Italy)

The EC Regulation No 761/2001, known as EMAS II, provided the possibility of obtaining the EMAS recognition also by industrial districts. As a consequence, the Livenza furniture district obtained the EMAS recognition in 2006 as the first industrial district in Italy. The Livenza district includes several manufacturing enterprises which carry out their activity in 11 municipalities of the province of Pordenone, Italy. Industries of wood, wood and cork products, straw articles, weave materials and furniture take part in the district. A Territorial Environmental Analysis was drawn up to obtain the recognition, by collecting data and information from questionnaires compiled by more than 100 firms and by the 11 municipalities of the district. For the EMAS registration renewal, obtained by the district in 2016, the Territorial Environmental Analysis was updated by revising in particular the methodology of evaluation of environmental impacts. More specifically, Ecological Footprint (EF) (that is, the quantitative evaluation of consumption of raw materials and energy and of waste production) was compared with Carrying Capacity (CC) (that is, the quantitative evaluation of the area able to assure the availability of the resources required and to absorb waste produced). In this way, it was possible to put in light that the EF of the district is much greater than the corresponding CC. The main actions which might be chosen to reduce EF have been pinpointed, with the aim of warranting a better sustainability of the district activities

Clinical Usefulness of Oral Supplementation with Alpha-Lipoic Acid, Curcumin Phytosome, and B-Group Vitamins in Patients with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Undergoing Surgical Treatment

We investigated the clinical usefulness of oral supplementation with a combination product containing alpha-lipoic acid, curcumin phytosome, and B-group vitamins in 180 patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), scheduled to undergo surgical decompression of the median nerve. Patients in Group A ( = 60) served as controls and did not receive any treatment either before or after surgery. Patients in Group B ( = 60) received oral supplementation twice a day for 3 months both before and after surgery (totaling 6 months of supplementation). Patients in Group C ( = 60) received oral supplementation twice a day for 3 months before surgery only. Patients in Group B showed significantly lower nocturnal symptoms scores compared with Group A subjects at both 40 days and 3 months after surgery (both P values < 0.05). Moreover, patients in Group B had a significantly lower number of positive Phalen's tests at 3 months compared with the other study groups ( < 0.05). We conclude that oral supplementation with alpha-lipoic acid, curcumin phytosome, and B-group vitamins twice a day both before and after surgery is safe and effective in CTS patients scheduled to undergo surgical decompression of the median nerve

A 14-Year Italian Experience in DM2 Genetic Testing: Frequency and Distribution of Normal and Premutated CNBP Alleles

Myotonic dystrophy type 2 (DM2) is a multisystemic disorder caused by a (CCTG)n in intron 1 of the CNBP gene. The CCTG repeat tract is part of a complex (TG)v(TCTG)w(CCTG)x(NCTG)y(CCTG)z motif generally interrupted in CNBP healthy range alleles. Here we report our 14-year experience of DM2 postnatal genetic testing in a total of 570 individuals. The DM2 locus has been analyzed by a combination of SR-PCR, TP-PCR, LR-PCR, and Sanger sequencing of CNBP alleles. DM2 molecular diagnosis has been confirmed in 187/570 samples analyzed (32.8%) and is mainly associated with the presence of myotonia in patients. This set of CNBP alleles showed unimodal distribution with 25 different alleles ranging from 108 to 168 bp, in accordance with previous studies on European populations. The most frequent CNBP alleles consisted of 138, 134, 140, and 136 bps with an overall locus heterozygosity of 90%. Sequencing of 103 unexpanded CNBP alleles in DM2-positive patients revealed that (CCTG)5(NCTG)3(CCTG)7 and (CCTG)6(NCTG)3(CCTG)7 are the most common interruption motifs. We also characterized five CNBP premutated alleles with (CCTG)n repetitions from n = 36 to n = 53. However, the molecular and clinical consequences in our cohort of samples are not unequivocal. Data that emerged from this study are representative of the Italian population and are useful tools for National and European centers offering DM2 genetic testing and counseling

Unusual presentation of Lynch Syndrome

Lynch Syndrome/HNPCC is a syndrome of cancer predisposition linked to inherited mutations of genes participating in post-replicative DNA mismatch repair (MMR). The spectrum of cancer associated with Lynch Syndrome includes tumours of the colorectum, endometrium, ovary, upper gastrointestinal tract and the urothelium although other cancers are rarely described. We describe a family of Lynch Syndrome with an hMLH1 mutation, that harbours an unusual tumour spectrum and its diagnostic and management challenges

Prescription appropriateness of anti-diabetes drugs in elderly patients hospitalized in a clinical setting: evidence from the REPOSI Register

Diabetes is an increasing global health burden with the highest prevalence (24.0%) observed in elderly people. Older diabetic adults have a greater risk of hospitalization and several geriatric syndromes than older nondiabetic adults. For these conditions, special care is required in prescribing therapies including anti- diabetes drugs. Aim of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness and the adherence to safety recommendations in the prescriptions of glucose-lowering drugs in hospitalized elderly patients with diabetes. Data for this cross-sectional study were obtained from the REgistro POliterapie-Società Italiana Medicina Interna (REPOSI) that collected clinical information on patients aged ≥ 65 years acutely admitted to Italian internal medicine and geriatric non-intensive care units (ICU) from 2010 up to 2019. Prescription appropriateness was assessed according to the 2019 AGS Beers Criteria and anti-diabetes drug data sheets.Among 5349 patients, 1624 (30.3%) had diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. At admission, 37.7% of diabetic patients received treatment with metformin, 37.3% insulin therapy, 16.4% sulfonylureas, and 11.4% glinides. Surprisingly, only 3.1% of diabetic patients were treated with new classes of anti- diabetes drugs. According to prescription criteria, at admission 15.4% of patients treated with metformin and 2.6% with sulfonylureas received inappropriately these treatments. At discharge, the inappropriateness of metformin therapy decreased (10.2%, P < 0.0001). According to Beers criteria, the inappropriate prescriptions of sulfonylureas raised to 29% both at admission and at discharge. This study shows a poor adherence to current guidelines on diabetes management in hospitalized elderly people with a high prevalence of inappropriate use of sulfonylureas according to the Beers criteria