Life cycle assessment of photovoltaic implementation: an Italian case study

The energy efficiency is the possibility and ability to carry out a production process consume with the involves of less energy and minor environmental impact. Life Cycle Assessment is one of the major tools involved in the economic, social and environmental evaluation. The aim of this work is the LCA application to an Italian company that provides to install a photovoltaic plant for the energy self-maintenance, in order to break down costs and environmental impacts. The photovoltaic business can be an interesting solution especially for companies which consume more energy during the day. In the case study was highlighted that an average of 400.00 €/month was spent, equal to about 900 kWh / month. The company installed a 10 kWp photovoltaic system and with this implementation the energy consumption diminished of 84% and the costs of 57%

Utilização de aplicativos Base e Calc do pacote BrOffice.org para criação de sistema de informação de pequeno porte.

Este artigo descreve uma forma de se criar um sistema de informação de pequeno porte usando as ferramentas Calc e Base e, com elas integradas, obtém-se uma ferramenta fácil de se usar e acessível a qualquer pessoa, sem custos. Um caso de estudo é mostrado para exemplificar o uso deste sistema

Influence of SiC on the oxidation resistance of carbon fibre reinforced UHTCMCsAntonio Vinci

Ultra-High-Temperature-Ceramics (UHTCs) are a novel class of refractory materials characterized by melting points exceeding 3000°C and very good thermo-mechanical properties [1]. In particular, ZrB2 composites have been extensively investigated as potential candidates for the fabrication of reusable Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) for aerospace applications due to their relatively low density and high thermal conductivity. The main drawbacks are the low oxidation resistance of ZrB2 above 1000°C, due to the formation of a porous ZrO2 scale and evaporation of B2O3, and low fracture toughness. Silicon carbide has been found to increase its oxidation resistance up to 1650 owing to the formation of a protective, viscous borosilicate scale [2][3]. However, their low fracture toughness and thermal shock resistance remain major obstacles for their application [4][5]. For this purpose, continuous carbon fibres (~45 vol.%) were used as reinforcement in order to increase their fracture toughness and thermal shock resistance. The resulting materials were labeled “UHTCMCs” (Ultra High Temperature Ceramic Matrix Composites). In the present work, the oxidation resistance of carbon fibre reinforced ZrB2/SiC composites was studied. Composites with SiC amounts ranging from 5-20 vol.% were fabricated by slurry infiltration and hot pressing at 1900°C and 40 MPa. Oxidation tests were carried out on cut specimen (2 x 2.5 x 12 mm3) in a bottom-up loading furnace at 1500°C and 1650°C. The resulting microstructures were analysed by SEM-EDS and X-ray diffraction analysis. Weight loss per surface area was recorded after each test. Results show that the formation of a viscous borosilicate glass phase is essential for the protection of carbon fibres from oxidation; low amounts of SiC do not provide enough protection against fibre degradation, but with increasing the SiC amount there is an increase in the thickness of the protective layer and a decrease in weight loss. References [1] W.G. Fahrenholtz, G.E. Hilmas, I.G. Talmy, J.A. Zaykoski, Refractory diborides of zirconium and hafnium, J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 90 (2007) 1347–1364. doi:10.1111/j.1551-2916.2007.01583.x. [2] L. Zhang, K. Kurokawa, Effect of SiC Addition on Oxidation Behavior of ZrB2 at 1273??K and 1473??K, Oxid. Met. 85 (2016) 311–320. doi:10.1007/s11085-015-9585-9. [3] J. He, Y. Wang, L. Luo, L. An, Oxidation behaviour of ZrB2–SiC (Al/Y) ceramics at 1700°C, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. (2016). doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2016.02.037. [4] R. Zhang, X. Cheng, D. Fang, L. Ke, Y. Wang, Ultra-high-temperature tensile properties and fracture behavior of ZrB2-based ceramics in air above 1500??C, Mater. Des. 52 (2013) 17–22. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2013.05.045. [5] E. Zapata-Solvas, D.D. Jayaseelan, H.T. Lin, P. Brown, W.E. Lee, Mechanical properties of ZrB2- and HfB2-based ultra-high temperature ceramics fabricated by spark plasma sintering, J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 33 (2013) 1373–1386. doi:10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2012.12.009

The Role of Migration for Workplace Safety in Italy

Using microdata from the Labour Force Survey (2009–2019) and special Labour Force Surveys conducted in 2007, 2013, and 2020 in Italy, this study examines (i) whether immigrants are more likely than native-born workers to experience occupa- tional injuries and job-related health problems and (ii) the effects of immigration on the allocation of occupational risks. We also contribute to the literature in this context by considering differences between natives and immigrants that may exist outside indi- vidual characteristics (age, gender), such as education, the age at which immigrants entered Italy and the length of stay. We find that immigrants are involved in riskier and more unsafe tasks; moreover, immigration in the last decade has led to a reduction in the average physical burden of native-born workers. Our results have important policy implications because they might be weighed against the racist sentiments of the local community

Adequacy of hospitals in Rome to an unconventional event (CBRNe). TTX simulation and HTA

Background Rome hosts thousands of sensible targets. Healthcare reaction has been guaranteed by 6 advanced Emergency Departments (EDs) and 7 basic ones. Everyday Rome hosts 6 millions of people/die, ± 2 million in particular occasions. About National Stockpile Antidotes (SNA), Rome hosts 3 warehouses. In case of events, stockpiles are activated with a long-time call; then stockpiles are charged in delivering trucks. Methods Study analyzes PEIMAF (State of emergency plans for massive influx of injures) of advanced EDs in Rome and their adequacy in a possible CBRNe attack. Hypothesis of C/N attack on Saint Peter's Square during Angelus on Wednesday (at 12.00 AM) or E attack in Trastevere on Saturday (at 9.00 PM). Analysis of activation of SNA and travel times between SNA warehouse and EDs. Comparison with French EDs during Paris attacks. Results EDs are chronically undermanned in ordinary conditions already, and would have issues in hosting a very large number of critical patients all at once. Some hospitals do not inform their workers about PEIMAF or they do not consider CBRNe emergencies in their PEIMAF, and even if it has been considered, hardly any simulation/exercitation is ever performed. Moreover, news of the CBRNe attack may not reach immediately the healthcare personal already at work in EDs; this is extremely problematic since they could be at major risk of contamination in case of CBRNe attacks. Furthermore, without a standardize protocol active in the whole city, no cross-hospital organization can be performed. Conclusions All data point towards the weakness and fragmentation of actual organizative system. Time of activation and charging are crucials for first aid efficacy and efficiency; a smart call system can reduce the activation time of SNA. A better organization of SNA in major Rome hospitals can reduce delivering time and help save more lives

Nash Social Welfare in Selfish and Online Load Balancing (Short Paper)

In load balancing problems there is a set of clients, each wishing to select a resource from a set of permissible ones, in order to execute a certain task. Each resource has a latency function, which depends on its workload, and a client's cost is the completion time of her chosen resource. Two fundamental variants of load balancing problems are selfish load balancing (aka. load balancing games), where clients are non-cooperative selfish players aimed at minimizing their own cost solely, and online load balancing, where clients appear online and have to be irrevocably assigned to a resource without any knowledge about future requests. We revisit both problems under the objective of minimizing the Nash Social Welfare, i.e., the geometric mean of the clients' costs. To the best of our knowledge, despite being a celebrated welfare estimator in many social contexts, the Nash Social Welfare has not been considered so far as a benchmarking quality measure in load balancing problems. We provide tight bounds on the price of anarchy of pure Nash equilibria and on the competitive ratio of the greedy algorithm under very general latency functions, including polynomial ones. For this particular class, we also prove that the greedy strategy is optimal, as it matches the performance of any possible online algorithm

Influence of Y2O3 addition on the mechanical and oxidation behaviour of carbon fibre reinforced ZrB2/SiC composites

The influence of Y2O3 addition on the microstructure, thermo-mechanical properties and oxidation resistance of carbon fibre reinforced ZrB2/SiC composites was investigated. Y2O3 reacted with oxide impurities present on the surface of ZrB2 and SiC grains and formed a liquid phase, effectively lowering the sintering temperature and allowing to reach full density at 1900 °C. The presence of a carbon source (fibres) led to additional reactions which resulted in the formation of new secondary phases such as yttrium boro-carbides. Mechanical properties were significantly enhanced compared to the un-doped composite. Further tests at high temperatures resulted in strength increase up to 700 MPa at 1500 °C which was attributed to stress relaxation. Oxidation tests carried out at 1500 °C and 1650 °C in air showed that the presence of the Y-based secondary phases enhanced the growth of ZrO2 grains, but offered limited protection to oxygen due to the lower availability of surficial SiO2 formed from SiC

Robotic surgery for gynecologic cancers: indications, techniques and controversies.

Minimally invasive surgery for gynecologic cancers is associated with fewer postoperative complications including less blood loss and quicker recovery time compared to traditional laparotomy. The robotic platform has allowed patients access to minimally invasive surgery due to its increased utilization by gynecologic oncologists. Many surgeons have embraced the robotic platform due to its technological advances over traditional laparoscopy including high-definition 3D optics, wristed instrumentation, camera stability and improved ergonomics. While robotic surgery continues as a mainstay in the management of gynecologic cancers, it remains controversial in regards to its cost effectiveness and more recently, its long-term impact on clinical and oncologic outcomes. A strong component of the justification of this surgical platform is based on extrapolated data from traditional laparoscopy despite limited prospective randomized trials for robotic-assisted surgery. In this review, we highlight the use of robotic surgery in the management of gynecologic cancers in special populations: fertility sparing patients, the morbidly obese, the elderly, and patients with a favorable response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy

The role of education in innovation-migration nexus in Europe

Using panel data between 2012 and 2020, this research examines the relationship between the flows of low-skilled immigrants and innovation in the EU-15 group of nations and Switzerland. The empirical component is generated from a theoretical model that we construct. After addressing the potential endogeneity of the share of immigrants in the population, we find that regions with a relatively high immigrant population have a favorable impact on the generation of patent applications, whereas low-skilled immigrants have the reverse effects on innovation. Hence, the results are in line with the proposition in the theoretical section that lower-educated immigrants determine social decreasing returns in the economy