LOG-IDEAH: LOGic trees for identification of damage due to earthquakes for architectural heritage.

In the framework of PERPETUATE, LOG-IDEAH: “LOGic trees for Identification of Damage due to Earthquakes for Architectural Heritage” has been developed as a post-earthquake assessment tool for the evaluation of the global seismic performance of architectural assets (AAs). LOG-IDEAH is an expert system which interprets the seismic damage collected on site by relying on the knowledge of engineers and architects in seismic vulnerability assessment. The present expert system has been set up on logic trees, implemented in answer set programming to encode the recognition process that surveyors proceed to investigate the causes of damage and to evaluate the failures occurring on an AA. LOG-IDEAH, available at (http://perpetuate.cs.bath.ac.uk/), allows sketching AAs, recording the state of damage, uploading GPS referenced images and comparing collapse mechanisms observed on site with collapse mechanisms identified by the system. The seismic damage, which is the minimum data required by LOG-IDEAH, is collected at the level of both structural elements and artistic assets (local level) and interpreted at the level of the AA (global level). The answer set programming applied for the construction of the machine-processable representation, once the input data has been recorded into the web-interface, provides all possible failure modes and related possibilities of occurrence by taking into consideration the reliability level of the collected data. Its capability has been validated by applying LOG-IDEAH to the historic centre of L’Aquila of the 2009 earthquake by pointing out that answer set programming is a valid alternative approach to the existing methods developed to identify the seismic performance of masonry AAs

What drives farm structural change? An analysis of economic, demographic and succession factors

The evolution of farm size and land use are important determinants of the efficiency and profitability of agriculture and the configuration of the territory. In this paper, a conceptual framework of the evolution of the number of farms and land use is presented, arguing that a major determinant of the change in the number of farms is the presence or absence of successors to ageing farmers and that these socio-demographic variables shape the evolution of the sector in terms of farm size, while they do not significantly affect the changes in the farmed area. This hypothesis was empirically tested with data drawn from individual farm records of the Italian Agricultural Censuses of 2000 and 2010—aggregated at the municipality level for an Italian region—by estimating regressions on the decrease rates of the number of farms, the utilised agricultural area and the total agricultural area. The results support the conclusion that the change in the number of farms was largely determined by the absence of successors in family farms and by the average operators’ age, unlike the change in the farmed area, for which natural land conditions were the main drivers

Leukocytapheresis treatment for recurrence Virus C infection in liver transplant recipients

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BIOMASS EXPLOITATION FOR ENERGY SUPPLY AND QUALITY COMPOST PRODUCTION. AN EXEMPLARY CASE OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN THE NORTH EAST OF ITALY

The goal 12 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development takes into consideration the responsible consumption and production in the perspective of circular economy. The agri-food sector is more actively involved in these initiatives, because it offers the possibility to exploit waste and by-products, by adopting suitable biotechnologies. Such processes can be carried out either under aerobic conditions, for the production of compost, or anaerobically, for the production of biogas. In this work the case of a plant managed by Desag Ecologia, located in the municipality of Sedegliano, in the North-East of Italy, is presented. The plant started up in June 2016. Its main activity consists in exploitation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste and urban forestry green waste coming from separate waste collection. The basin of provenance of collected materials consists not only of the province of Udine, but also of other areas of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region and other northern Italian regions. The plant ensures the production of both biogas (used in a cogeneration installation for producing electricity and heat) and quality compost, which can be used in agriculture, after submission to physico-chemical analyses to verify the end-of-waste status. In this way, the reduction of waste disposal in landfill is ensured. Thermal energy is partially recovered for the production of hot water to heat the anaerobic digester, the leachate collection tank and the plant rooms. Approximately 10% of electricity is self-consumed for the needs of the anaerobic facility, the remaining amount is fed straight into the public electricity network

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in processes citrus juices

The occurrence of 2-furaldehyde (F) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) in processed citrus juices is an indication of quality deterioration. A close relationship between flavor changes and F content exists, while HMF can give rise to browning reactions. Both F and HMF are formed during heat processing or storage at improper temperatures. The detection of these compounds becomes more and more important as aseptic processing and packaging of citrus juices are becoming widespread. Aseptic packaging allows higher temperatures during distribution and storage to be employed without microbial spoilage, but off-flavors develop as citrus products are exposed to these conditions. In this paper a method of determination by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The method is based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent reversed-phase separation of these derivatives. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives of carbonyl compounds is thus avoided, and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The determination offers a high specificity and a detection limit of the order of 10-8 mol/l for both analytes. Recoveries from an orange juice spiked at different levels are quantitative. Reproducibility data are presented

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde and 5- hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in fruit juices

A method for the determination of 2-furaldehyde (F) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) in fruit juices by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The method is based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent separation of these derivatives. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives of carbonyl compounds is thus avoided; and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The procedure offers a high specificity and a detection limit of the order of 10\u20138 mol/L. Recoveries of 95-98% are obtained from apple juice spiked at different levels with both analytes. The reproducibility (mean of six determinations) is \ub1 2% for F and \ub1 3% for HMF

High performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde in honey

A method of determination of 2-furaldehyde (F) and 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF) in honey by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is described. The method is based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent reversed-phase separation of these derivatives. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives of carbonyl compounds is thus avoided and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The procedure offers a high specificity, since the derivatives of F and HMF are well separated from the other components of the mixture under examination. Recoveries of 95-99% were obtained from honey spiked at different levels with both analytes. The detection limit is of the order of 10 \u3bcg/kg of honey and reproducibility (mean of six determinations) is \ub13% for F and \ub12% for HMF

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of 2-furaldehyde in spirits

Official methods for the determination of 2-furaldehyde in spirits involve for a spectrophotometric evaluation, which is characterized by poor specificity. Gas chromatographic evaluations have also been proposed, which offer a much higher sensitivity, particularly when capillary columns are used. In this paper a high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method based on the formation of the 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones of carbonyl compounds and subsequent reversed-phase separation of these derivatives is described. Derivatization is carried out by utilizing an acidic solution of 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazine in acetonitrile. Precipitation of the derivatives is avoided, and direct injection of the sample into the HPLC system is allowed. The determination offers a high specificity and a detection limit of the order of 10-8 mol/l. Accuracy and reproducibility data are presented

Determination of cadmium (II) and zinc (II) in olive oils by derivative potentiometric stripping analysis

A method for the determination of cadmium (II) and zinc (II) in olive oils by derivative potentiometric stripping analysis after dry ashing of the sample is described. The metal ions were concentrated as their amalgams on a glassy carbon working electrode that was previously coated with a thin mercury film and then stripped by a suitable oxidant. Potential and time data were digitally converted into dt dE 121, and E was plotted vs. dt dE 121, thus increasing sensitivity of the method and improving resolution of the analysis. Quantitative analysis was carried out by the method of standard additions; a good linearity was obtained in the range of concentrations examined. Recoveries of 92\u2013102% for cadmium (II) and of 89\u201399% for zinc (II) were obtained from an olive oil spiked at different levels. The detection limits were 5.1 ng g 121 for cadmium (II) and 7.6 ng g 121 for zinc (II)

Comparative study on the preventing effects of oral vanadyl sulfate and dietary restriction on the age-related glucose intolerance in rats.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Aging is associated with a progressive impairment of glucose tolerance. The aim of this study was to explore the protective effects of the chronic oral administration of the insulino-mimetic agent vanadyl sulfate (VOSO4) as compared with those exerted by a long-lasting dietary restriction. METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats, either fed ad libitum (AL) or subjected to 40% dietary restriction (DR), were used. VOSO4 (0.5 mg/mL drinking water) was administered to a subgroup of AL rats for two months, starting at 16 months of age. Rats were subjected to an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) at 16 and 18 months of age. Finally, the beta-cell responsiveness to glucose was evaluated in vitro by the isolated perfused pancreas preparation. RESULTS: The IVGTT performed in 16-month-old rats showed that DR prevented the development of the moderate glucose intolerance observed in AL rats. The IVGTT performed at 18 months of age confirmed the beneficial effect of DR and showed that VOSO4 was able to prevent the further age-related progression of glucose intolerance observed in AL rats. Pancreas perfusion studies showed that no increase in insulin secretion occurred in both VOSO4-treated and DR rats with respect to the age-matched AL controls, consistently with the in vivo observation of post-loading insulinaemic changes. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of these results, we conclude that the beneficial effect of both treatments is mostly related to an improvement of tissue sensitivity to insulin rather than to an insulinotropic effect