Evaluation of municipal waste incineration impact on environmental noise

The EU Directive 2002/49/EC or Environmental Noise Directive (END) aims to define a common approach intended to avoid, prevent or reduce the harmful effects, including annoyance, due to exposure to environmental noise. Under this Directive, member states are obliged to produce the noise maps of the major roads, railways airports, large agglomerations and industrial activity sites. The first maps had to be produced for the main agglomerations by July 2007 and the first action plans should be activated no lather than July 2008. In this work we consider the industrial noise produced by municipal waste incineration; the study was developed to provide data of the sound power level along the facades buildings and contours of this site that can be used to produce strategic noise maps. To characterize the impact of the waste incineration plant, measurements of the noise emissions were performed in situ. The distribution of sound power and sound input levels have been calculated by SoundPLAN\uae computer model. The results of this work can provide a re-applicable method for the production of noise levels due to industrial noise sources. The results are suitable to be included in noise maps for agglomerations, in line with the END expectatio

Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in foods with a textile organic electrochemical transistor biosensor

Abstract: Foods contaminated by pathogens are responsible for foodborne diseases which have socioeconomic impacts. Many approaches have been extensively investigated to obtain specific and sensitive methods to detect pathogens in food, but they are often not easy to perform and require trained personnel. This work aims to propose a textile organic electrochemical transistor-based (OECT) biosensor to detect L. monocytogenes in food samples. The analyses were performed with culture-based methods, Listeria Precis™ method, PCR, and our textile OECT biosensor which used poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT):polystyrene sulfonate (PSS) (PEDOT:PSS) for doping the organic channel. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to obtain topographic maps of the gold gate. The electrochemical activity on gate electrodes was measured and related to the concentration of DNA extracted from samples and hybridized to the specific capture probe immobilized onto the gold surface of the gate. This assay reached a limit of detection of 1.05 ng/μL, corresponding to 0.56 pM of L. monocytogenes ATCC 7644, and allowed the specific and rapid detection of L. monocytogenes in the analyzed samples. Keypoints: • Textile organic electrochemical transistors functionalized with a specific DNA probe • AFM topographic and surface potential maps of a functionalized gold gate surface • Comparison between the Listeria monocytogenes Precis™ method and an OECT biosenso

Membrane Environment Enables Ultrafast Isomerization of Amphiphilic Azobenzene

G.M.P. and E.C. contributed equally to this work. G.M.P. acknowledges the financial support from Fondazione Cariplo, grant no. 2018-0979. The authors thank the financial support from the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement No. 643238 (SYNCHRONICS). The authors also thank Dr. Daniele Viola for helping with the analysis of the TA data.The non‐covalent affinity of photoresponsive molecules to biotargets represents an attractive tool for achieving effective cell photo‐stimulation. Here, an amphiphilic azobenzene that preferentially dwells within the plasma membrane is studied. In particular, its isomerization dynamics in different media is investigated. It is found that in molecular aggregates formed in water, the isomerization reaction is hindered, while radiative deactivation is favored. However, once protected by a lipid shell, the photochromic molecule reacquires its ultrafast photoisomerization capacity. This behavior is explained considering collective excited states that may form in aggregates, locking the conformational dynamics and redistributing the oscillator strength. By applying the pump probe technique in different media, an isomerization time in the order of 10 ps is identified and the deactivation in the aggregate in water is also characterized. Finally, it is demonstrated that the reversible modulation of membrane potential of HEK293 cells via illumination with visible light can be indeed related to the recovered trans→cis photoreaction in lipid membrane. These data fully account for the recently reported experiments in neurons, showing that the amphiphilic azobenzenes, once partitioned in the cell membrane, are effective light actuators for the modification of the electrical state of the membrane.Fondazione Cariplo. Grant Number: 2018‐0979EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. Grant Number: 64323

Rapid prototyping of 3D Organic Electrochemical Transistors by composite photocurable resin

Rapid Prototyping (RP) promises to induce a revolutionary impact on how the objects can be produced and used in industrial manufacturing as well as in everyday life. Over the time a standard technique as the 3D Stereolithography (SL) has become a fundamental technology for RP and Additive Manufacturing (AM), since it enables the fabrication of the 3D objects from a cost-efective photocurable resin. Eforts to obtain devices more complex than just a mere aesthetic simulacre, have been spent with uncertain results. The multidisciplinary nature of such manufacturing technique furtherly hinders the route to the fabrication of complex devices. A good knowledge of the bases of material science and engineering is required to deal with SL technological, characterization and testing aspects. In this framework, our study aims to reveal a new approach to obtain RP of complex devices, namely Organic Electro-Chemical Transistors (OECTs), by SL technique exploiting a resin composite based on the conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and the photo curable Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA). A comprehensive study is presented, starting from the optimization of composite resin and characterization of its electrochemical properties, up to the 3D OECTs printing and testing. Relevant performances in biosensing for dopamine (DA) detection using the 3D OECTs are reported and discussed too

Technology use characteristics among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-cultural survey

Personal computers, tablets, and smartphones may support older adults' engagement when people are required to stay home and opportunities to engage in meaningful activities are reduced during the COVID-19 period. This study aims to screen older adults’ technology-use characteristics across social, leisure, and education domains during the COVID-19 pandemic from a crosscultural viewpoint. The sample included 576 participants aged 60 and older from France (n = 62), Spain (n = 110), and Israel (n = 404). Participants completed the technology-use survey, which consists of questions about their facilities, technology usability, need for adaptations to support technology use, and changes in technology use since COVID-19. Significant differences were found between countries in facilities, χ2 (2) = 25.16, p < .001, and usability, χ2 (2) = 64.14, p < .001, across the three domains. Furthermore, 34% of technological usability was predicted by country and facilities, F (4, 568) = 72.39, p < .001. Participants noted a willingness to use technology if it was adapted for social (61%–73%), leisure (51%–71%), or educational (67%–76%) activities and that they devoted substantially more time to technology across domains (>58%) due to COVID-19. These findings highlight culture and facilities as factors that play an imperative role in supporting and enhancing the usability of technology among older adults

Organic Bioelectronics Development in Italy: A Review

In recent years, studies concerning Organic Bioelectronics have had a constant growth due to the interest in disciplines such as medicine, biology and food safety in connecting the digital world with the biological one. Specific interests can be found in organic neuromorphic devices and organic transistor sensors, which are rapidly growing due to their low cost, high sensitivity and biocompatibility. This trend is evident in the literature produced in Italy, which is full of breakthrough papers concerning organic transistors-based sensors and organic neuromorphic devices. Therefore, this review focuses on analyzing the Italian production in this field, its trend and possible future evolutions

Specie esotiche invasive di rilevanza unionale in Italia: aggiornamenti e integrazioni

La Commissione Europea (CE) ha inserito ad oggi 36 taxa esotici vegetali nella lista delle specie esotiche invasive di rilevanza unionale ai sensi del Regolamento (UE) n. 1143/2014 del Parlamento Europeo e del Consiglio, recante disposizioni volte a prevenire e gestire l’introduzione e la diffusione delle specie esotiche invasive. La lista delle specie di rilevanza unionale viene periodicamente aggiornata e include quelle specie che rappresentano una grave minaccia per la biodiversità, ma anche per la salute dei cittadini e le attività economiche nei territori dell’Unione Europea e che necessitano di una gestione concertata a livello comunitario. La CE vigila sullo stato di ogni taxon grazie anche a periodiche rendicontazioni da parte dei paesi dell'Unione. In vista di tali report, tra il 2020 e il 2021 è stata definita e integrata la distribuzione di queste specie in Italia