La rilevanza dell'educazione ambientale nelle scuole. Monitoraggio di progetti e loro efficacia in termini di modifica dei comportamenti.

Il presente lavoro di tesi analizza l’efficacia dell’educazione ambientale nelle scuole e quanto questa influisce sulla modifica dei comportamenti a carico dell’ambiente. Nella prima parte è stato esaminato il concetto di comunicazione. Come avviene la comunicazione e perché è importante comunicare. In seguito è stata effettuata un’analisi dell’evoluzione del concetto di educazione ambientale a livello internazionale, nazionale e regionale. Chi si occupa, quindi, di educazione ambientale, in che modo e dove lo fa. Nella parte centrale sono stati descritti quattro percorsi di educazione ambientale. Ogni percorso è stato seguito e monitorato. Le scuole coinvolte sono state due, entrambe appartenenti al Comune di Cascina (Pisa). Le classi monitorate sono state quattro. Il monitoraggio è stato effettuato tramite dei questionari presentati ai ragazzi a inizio, fine progetto e nei mesi successivi. In totale sono stati somministrati tre questionari per ogni percorso seguito. Lo scopo dei questionari è stato quello di capire, a distanza di tempo, l’efficacia dei progetti svolti e quanto questi hanno influenzato la sensibilizzazione e modifica dei comportamenti dei ragazzi nei confronti dell’ambiente. Dall'analisi dei dati raccolti e dall'osservazione in classe dei ragazzi si è cercato di elaborare un indice chiamato indice di persistenza del comportamento modificato che ha permesso di determinare la rilevanza dell’educazione ambientale nelle scuole. The present work of the thesis presented affects the efficiency of environmental education in the schools and how this can affect the modification of behaviors towards environment. On the first part the concept of communication has been examined. How it takes place and why it is so important to communicate. Further on an analysis on the evolution of the concept of environmental education has been done on an international national and regional basis. The person that takes care of environmental education, in which way and where it has to be done. In the central part there are described four ways to do environmental education. Every project has been followed and monitored. The schools involved were two, both pertaining to the town of Cascina (PISA). The classes that were tested were four. The testing was done through questions presented at the beginning , at the end of the project and on following months. In total the students were given three questionnaires for each project that was followed. The aim of the questionnaires was to understand , some time after , the efficiency of the projects done and how these projects have affected the awareness and change of the students behavior with respect to environment. From the analysis of the data collected and observing the students in class a rating called rating of persistance of modified behavior was elaborated which permits to determine the relevance of environmental education in schools

Photosensitive acrylates containing bio-based epoxy-acrylate soybean oil for 3D printing application

Stereolithography is a 3D-printing process that is rapidly shifting from being an expensive and limited technology to an affordable, precise, and fast method of mass production. However, most of the current resins are petroleum-based, which makes them toxic, non-degradable and with poor biocompatibility. In this study, a standard petroleum-based resin containing urethane acrylate and acrylic monomers was combined with epoxy-acrylate soybean oil (EASO), aiming to reduce its impact on the environment. Ratios varying from 10 to 50 wt% of EASO were incorporated into the commercial resin while maintaining the viscosity low, between 0.27 and 1.06 Pa s. The printed samples showed good quality and complete integration between the layers. The addition of 50 wt% of EASO increased the samples elongation at break by 108% (from 2.3% to 4.8%) and decreased the contact angle by 26.4% (from 72 to 53°). Moreover, the mixture showed good thermal and swelling stability and tensile strength in the range of other commercial cured systems. The addition of EASO may significantly contribute to the exploitation of greener materials, which well matches today's circular economy concept

Influence of Textile Structure and Silica Based Finishing on Thermal Insulation Properties of Cotton Fabrics

The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of weave structures and silica coatings obtained via sol-gel process on the thermal insulation properties of cotton samples. For this reason three main weave structures (plain, satin, and piqué) of cotton fabric were selected with different yarn count, threads per cm, and mass per square meter values. Thereafter, only for the plain weave, the samples were padded using silica sol formed by hydrolysis and subsequent condensation of 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane under acidic conditions. The silanized plain weave samples were characterized by TGA and FT-IR techniques. The thermal properties were measured with a home-made apparatus in order to calculate thermal conductivity, resistance, and absorption of all the treated fabric samples. The relationship between the thermal insulation properties of the plain weave fabrics and the concentration of sol solutions has been investigated. Fabrics weave and density were found to strongly influence the thermal properties: piqué always shows the lowest values and satin shows the highest values while plain weave lies in between. The thermal properties of treated high-density cotton plain weave fabric were proved to be strongly influenced by finishing agent concentration

Intumescent flame retardant properties of graft co-polymerized vinyl monomers onto cotton fabric

In this paper, an intumescent flame retardant treatment, obtained by a combination of vinylphosphonic acid (VPA) and methacrylamide (MAA), was applied to cotton fabrics. In order to improve the cross-linking degree onto cellulose polymers, potassium persulfate was used as initiator of a radical polymerization technique. The application on cotton was carried out by padding, followed by drying and a curing treatment. The treated samples were characterized by SEM, TGA and FTIR-ATR analyses and tested in terms of flammability and washing fastness. The thermal and fire behavior of the treated fabrics was thoroughly investigated. The results clearly showed that the VPA/MAA coating was able to exert a protective action, giving rise to the formation of a stable char on the surface of textile fibers upon heating, hence improving the flame retardant performance of cotton. Horizontal flame spread tests confirmed that the coated fabrics achieved self-extinction, and the residues well preserved the original weave structure and fiber morphology ; at variance, the uncoated fabric left only ashes. A remarkable weight loss was observed only after the first washing cycle, then the samples did not show any significant weight loss, hence confirming the durability of the self-extinguishing treatment, even after five laundering cycles

Investigation of Epoxy-Acrylate Soybean Oil as A Bio-Enhancer for 3D Printing Application

In this study, a standard crude oil-based commercial resin containing urethane acrylate and acrylic mon-omers was combined with a biobased monomer, namely epoxy-acrylate soybean oil (EASO), at ratios varying from 10 to 50 wt.% and 3D printed, using a stereolithographic apparatus. The printed samples exhibited good quality and complete integration between the layers. Besides, the addition of increasing EASO loadings decreased the stiffness and mechanical strength of the samples (which exhibited mechanical properties similar to other commercially available photosensitive systems), while increasing their ductility and wettability. Therefore, the addition of EASO may significantly contribute to the exploitation of greener materials, which well matches today's circular economy concept

Preparation and characterization of 3D-Printed biobased composites containing micro- or nanocrystalline cellulose

Stereolithography (SLA), one of the seven different 3D printing technologies, uses photosensitive resins to create high-resolution parts. Although SLA offers many advantages for medical applications, the lack of biocompatible and biobased resins limits its utilization. Thus, the development of new materials is essential. This work aims at designing, developing, and fully characterizing a bio-resin system (made of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO)), filled with micro- or nanocellulose crystals (MCC and CNC), suitable for 3D printing. The unfilled resin system containing 80 wt.% AESO was identified as the best resin mixture, having a biobased content of 68.8%, while ensuring viscosity values suitable for the 3D printing process (>1.5 Pa s). The printed samples showed a 93% swelling decrease in water, as well as increased tensile strength (4.4 ± 0.2 MPa) and elongation at break (25% ± 2.3%). Furthermore, the incorporation of MCC and CNC remarkably increased the tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the cured network, thus indicating a strong reinforcing effect exerted by the fillers. Lastly, the presence of the fillers did not affect the UV-light penetration, and the printed parts showed a high quality, thus proving their potential for precise applications

A spatio-temporal dataset of plant pests' first introductions across the EU and potential entry pathways

World trade has greatly increased in recent decades, together with a higher risk of introducing non-indigenous pests. Introduction trends show no sign of saturation, and it seems likely that many more species will enter and establish in new territories in the future. A key challenge in analysing pest invasion patterns is the paucity of historical data on pest introductions. A comprehensive dataset of pests' introductions in the EU, including their spatial occurrences, is not currently available and information is scattered across different sources or buried in the scientific literature. Therefore, we collected pests' introduction information (e.g., year, host) from online scientific databases and literature; we then gathered primary spatial data related to the site of first introductions. Finally, we identified the potential pathways of entry for each pest. The dataset contains expert-revised data on 278 pests introduced in the EU between 1999 and 2019, alongside their spatial occurrence and potential pathways of entry, providing a basis to better understand the factors associated with the likelihood of pest introduction. It is important to note that this dataset does not contain the current distribution of the introduced pests, but only records of their first introduction in the EU

Gold Derivatives Development as Prospective Anticancer Drugs for Breast Cancer Treatment

Commonly used anticancer drugs are cisplatin and other platinum‐based drugs. However, the use of these drugs in chemotherapy causes numerous side effects and the onset of frequent drug resistance phenomena. This review summarizes the most recent results on the gold derivatives used for their significant inhibitory effects on the in vitro proliferation of breast cancer cell models and for the consequences deriving from morphological changes in the same cells. In particular, the study discusses the antitumor activity of gold nanoparticles, gold (I) and (III) compounds, gold complexes and carbene‐based gold complexes, compared with cisplatin. The results of screening studies of cytotoxicity and antitumor activity for the gold derivatives show that the death of cancer cells can occur intrinsically by apoptosis. Recent research has shown that gold (III) compounds with square planar geometries, such as that of cisplatin, can intercalate the DNA and provide novel anticancer agents. The gold derivatives described can make an important contribution to expanding the knowledge of medicinal bioorganometallic chemistry and broadening the range of anticancer agents available, offering improved characteristics, such as increased activity and/or selectivity, and paving the way for further discoveries and applications