Effectiveness evaluation of the ICE (Italian institute of foreing trade) promotional programme: case study

Evaluation and monitoring approaches and methodologies are spreading within the national and regional administrations directly involved in the management of the programmes co-financed by Structural Funds as well as within other institutional contexts where public policies are planned and implemented. The purpose of the present paper is to illustrate some results from a still ongoing training and consultancy project, on behalf of the ICE (Foreign Trade Institute), aiming at integrating ICE programming with evaluation and monitoring practices. Indeed, during the last year the ICE Programming Unit has been engaged in training and consultancy activities involving the application of evaluation and monitoring methodologies to the activities promoting ICE. The recipients of such initiative belong to the ICE Programming and Control Unit and they already gained experience in the evaluation area in the past within ad hoc working groups. More specifically, the purpose of this activity is to provide the opportunity to develop the means for a more effective management of the projects and start a broader process leading to organizational change and improvement.programme evaluation, effectiveness measure, customer satisfaction

On the stability of metal nanoparticles synthesized by laser ablation in liquids

Nanoparticles (NPs) synthesized through chemical routes are stabilized by a surface layer of capping agents. These molecules, beside avoid the infinite growth of the solid phase, impart steric or electrostatic repulsive inter- particle interactions. The technique known as “Laser ablation in liquid” (LAL) is an alternative technique to synthesize capping agents-free metal nanoparticles.1 LAL involves focused laser pulsed irradiation of a bulk metal target in a liquid and consist of four stages . Laser-matter interaction, plasma induction, cavitation bubble formation and particle release in solution. Strikingly, LAL leads to the formation of very stable “naked” NPs that are long standing for months. It is worth emphasizing that the stabilization of noble metal colloids in water is challenging because of the large Hamaker constant. Noble metal NPs prepared by LAL have a large negative zeta-potential and therefore their stability should be electrostatic in nature and it is due to the presence negative surface charges. The question is what is the origin of these surface charges? Common explanations for this phenomenon involve the presence of gold oxides and/or the anion adsorption.2, 3 However, the presence of oxidized gold species on the surface of NPs prepared in water has been recently questioned on the basis of XPS analysis.4 Very recently we have accumulated evidences that, in the case of gold NPs prepared by LAL, the metal oxidation and anion adsorptions have only a minor role on building the negative surface potential and we proposed that excess electrons formed within the plasma phase could charge the gold particles.5 The figure below describes an experiment that points in this direction: the addition of macroscopic metallic objects induce the loss of charge (as seen in the temporal evolution of the zeta-potential) and eventually NPs aggregation pnly the case of gold NP synthesized by LAL while it is ineffective in the case of NP synthesized by the classical Turkevitch chemical reduction of HAuCl4 reduction (see the picture of the cuvettes after 4 days). Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Numerical modelling of gas-water-rock interactions in volcanic-hydrothermal environment: the Ischia Island (Southern Italy) case study.

Hydrothermal systems hosted within active volcanic systems represent an excellent opportunity to investigate the interactions between aquifer rocks, infiltrating waters and deep-rising magmatic fluids, and thus allow deriving information on the activity state of dormant volcanoes. From a thermodynamic perspective, gas-water-rock interaction processes are normally far from equilibrium, but can be represented by an array of chemical reactions, in which irreversible mass transfer occurs from host rock minerals to leaching solutions, and then to secondary hydrothermal minerals. While initially developed to investigate interactions in near-surface groundwater environments, the reaction path modeling approach of Helgeson and co-workers can also be applied to quantitative investigation of reactions in high T-P environments. Ischia volcano, being the site of diffuse hydrothermal circulation, is an ideal place where to test the application of reaction-path modeling. Since its last eruption in 1302 AD, Ischia has shown a variety of hydrothermal features, including fumarolic emissions, diffuse soil degassing and hot waters discharges. These are the superficial manifestation of an intense hydrothermal circulation at depth. A recent work has shown the existence of several superposed aquifers; the shallowest (near to boiling) feeds the numerous surface thermal discharges, and is recharged by both superficial waters and deeper and hotter (150-260° C) hydrothermal reservoir fluids. Here, we use reaction path modelling (performed by using the code EQ3/6) to quantitatively constrain the compositional evolution of Ischia thermal fluids during their hydrothermal flow. Simulations suggest that compositions of Ischia groundwaters are buffered by interactions between reservoir rocks and recharge waters (meteoric fluids variably mixed - from 2 to 80% - with seawater) at shallow aquifer conditions. A CO2 rich gaseous phase is also involved in the interaction processes (fCO2 = 0.4-0.6 bar). Overall, our model calculations satisfactorily reproduce the main chemical features of Ischia groundwaters. In the model runs, attainment of partial to complete equilibrium with albite and K-feldspar fixes the Na/K ratios of the model solutions at values closely matching those of natural samples. Precipitation of secondary phases, mainly clay minerals (smectite and saponite) and zeolites (clinoptilolite), during the reaction path is able to well explain the large Mg-depletions which characterise Ischia thermal groundwaters; while pyrite and troilite are shown to control sulphur abundance in aqueous solutions. SiO2(aq) contents in model simulations fit those measured in groundwaters and are being buffered by the formation of quartz polymorphs and Si-bearing minerals. Finally, our simulations are able to reproduce redox conditions and Fe-depletion trends of natural samples. We conclude that reaction path modelling is an useful tool for quantitative exploration of chemical process within volcano-hosted hydrothermal systems

Quantitative models of hydrothermal fluid–mineral reaction:The Ischia case

The intricate pathways of fluid–mineral reactions occurring underneath active hydrothermal systems are explored in this study by applying reaction path modelling to the Ischia case study. Ischia Island, in Southern Italy, hosts a well-developed and structurally complex hydrothermal system which, because of its heterogeneity in chemical and physical properties, is an ideal test sites for evaluating potentialities/limitations of quantitative geochemical models of hydrothermal reactions. We used the EQ3/6 software package, version 7.2b, to model reaction of infiltrating waters (mixtures of meteoric water and seawater in variable proportions) with Ischia’s reservoir rocks (the Mount Epomeo Green Tuff units; MEGT). The mineral assemblage and composition of such MEGT units were initially characterised by ad hoc designed optical microscopy and electron microprobe analysis, showing that phenocrysts (dominantly alkali–feldspars and plagioclase) are set in a pervasively altered (with abundant clay minerals and zeolites) groundmass. Reaction of infiltrating waters with MEGT minerals was simulated over a range of realistic (for Ischia) temperatures (95–260° C) and CO2 fugacities (10 ^-0.2 to 10^0.5) bar. During the model runs, a set of secondary minerals (selected based on independent information from alteration minerals’ studies) was allowed to precipitate from model solutions, when saturation was achieved. The compositional evolution of model solutions obtained in the 95–260°C runs were finally compared with compositions of Ischia’s thermal groundwaters, demonstrating an overall agreement. Our simulations, in particular, well reproduce the Mg-depleting maturation path of hydrothermal solutions, and have end-of-run model solutions whose Na–K–Mg compositions well reflect attainment of full-equilibrium conditions at run temperature. High-temperature (180–260° C) model runs are those best matching the Na–K–Mg compositions of Ischia’s most chemically mature water samples, supporting quenching of deep-reservoir conditions for these surface manifestations; whilst Fe, SiO2 and, to a lesser extent, SO4 contents of natural samples are better reproduced in low-temperature (95°C) runs, suggesting that these species reflect conditions of water–rock interaction in the shallow hydrothermal environment. The ability of model runs to reproduce the compositional features of Ischia’s thermal manifestations, demonstrated here, adds supplementary confidence on reaction path modelling as a realistic and insightful representation of mineral–fluid hydrothermal reactions. Our results, in particular, demonstrate the significant impact of host rock minerals’ assemblage in governing the paths and trends of hydrothermal fluids’ maturation

Atmospheric pressure plasma jet for surface texturing of C/SiC

C/SiC composites are materials to be used in harsh environments overcoming the limits imposed by the intrinsic brittleness of their ceramic constituents while providing both high mechanical performances at high-temperature temperatures and low weight. In order to manufacture the final component, joining C/SiC, to itself or to other materials, is often necessary, and it is critical to maximize the strength of the joints (similar or dissimilar) in order to meet reliability criteria. In the present work, a pre-joining treatment based on an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) was proposed to introduce a brush-like texture on the surface via the selective removal of carbon fibers. The investigation of treated surfaces via electron microscopy and confocal 3D-profilometry confirmed that the treatment was effective in introducing a brush-like texture and in increasing the available contact area. Wettability test and inspection of cross-section of CB4 wetted samples were then carried out. The latter confirmed the formation of anchoring points given by the brush-like texture. Finally, the effectiveness of the treatment in improving the joint strength was assessed by comparing the apparent shear strength of CB4 brazed composites, with and without the APPJ pre-treatment. The joints with plasma pre-treated C/SiC showed a shear strength of about 66 MPa, 44% more than the strength of joints produced with untreated C/SiC

Design and preliminary affective characterization of a novel fabric-based tactile display

In this work we present a novel wearable haptic system based on an elastic fabric which can be moved forward and backward over the user forearm thus simulating a human caress. The system allows to control both the velocity of the “caress-like” movement, by regulating motor velocity, and the “strength of the caress”, by regulating motor positions and hence the force exerted by the fabric on the user forearm. Along with a description of the mechanical design and control of the system, we also report the preliminary results of psycho-physiological assessment tests performed by six healthy participants. Such an assessment is intended as a preliminary characterization of the device capability of eliciting tactually emotional states in humans using different combinations of velocity and caress strength. The emotional state is expressed in terms of arousal and valence. Moreover, the activation of the autonomic nervous system is also evaluated through the analysis of the electrodermal response (EDR). The main results reveal a statistically significant correlation between the perceived arousal level and the “strength of the caress” and between the perceived valence level and the “velocity of the caress”. Moreover, we found that phasic EDR is able to discern between pleasant and unpleasant stimuli. These preliminary results are very encouraging and confirm the effectiveness of this device in conveying emotional-like haptic stimuli in a controllable and wearable fashion

DEEP RESERVOIR TEMPERATURES OF LOW-ENTHALPY GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS IN TUNISIA: NEW CONSTRAINTS FROM CHEMISTRY OF THERMAL WATERS

Tunisia is characterized by hot and warm groundwaters (temperature up to 75 °C) which represent the surface manifestation of geothermal systems hosted in carbonate-evaporite rock sequences. The T-conditions of Tunisia deep thermal reservoirs are here evaluated for the first time at the regional scale. The results here shown clearly highlight the limitations inherent in the application of common geothermometric methods in the estimation of equilibrium temperatures in sedimentary environments. The modeling approach proposed by Chiodini et alii (1995), which makes use of the ratios between dissolved HCO3, SO4 and F, provides the most reliable results, and allows us to derive equilibrium temperatures up to 200 °C for the Tunisian thermal reservoirs. Very high equilibrium pCO2 (100 bar) values are also estimated, likely indicative of the confined aquifer conditions