Promotion of E-bikes for delivery of goods in European urban areas: an Italian case study

The paper presents the first results of some tasks of Pro-E-Bike, an Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) funded project, started on March 2013 ending in February 2016. Pro-E-Bike promotes clean and energy efficient vehicles, analyses the performance of electric bicycles and electric scooters (Light Electric Vehicle, LEV) for the delivering of goods in urban areas and tests the use of these vehicles in seven European countries with twenty five companies, both delivering ones and companies that deliver their own products. Pilots will enable the demonstration of measurable effects in terms of reduction of CO2 emissions and energy savings in urban transport: related data about environmental, economic and social effects resulted by the introduction of e-bikes and e-scooters in the pilot cities will be collected. The paper will give an overlooks of the Italian pilot, that will take place in Genova, describing the subjects involved and the expected results

Measurement of transfer of colostral passive immunity in dairy calves

The administration of high quality colostrum reduces preweaning morbidity, mortality and, therefore, economic losses related to replacement animals. It also stimulates and improves calf growth, increasing milk production and longevity of the future dairy cows. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of breed and parity of the dam on colostrum quality, and of breed and gender of the calf, and time from calf birth to the administration of the first colostrum meal on the transfer of passive immunity to the calf by the field test of the Failure of Passive Transfer (FPT) on calf serum. A further objective was to improve the diagnostic accuracy of the field FPT test through a second laboratory phase improving the turbidity evaluation. The amount of IgG fed to calves (IgG concentration multiplied by the volume of colostrum administered) was influenced by dam parity as significant differences (P < 0.05) were detected between first- and fourth-parity cows, and between second- and fourth-parity cows. The administration of good quality colostrum (IgG > 50 mg/ml) between 5 and 9 h of life was able to reduce the risk of FPT more effectively than the administration performed within the first 4 h of life. However, further studies on larger sample size is needed to confirm the present findings. The spectrophotometric measurements confirmed the results obtained by the field turbidity test at 14% sodium sulphite dilution. It would be interesting in future to expand the dataset and validate the spectrophometric method

The Value of Street Furniture as a Resource For Business and Tourism Development. The Case Of The Dro Municipality in Trentino

This study has two goals: presenting the characteristic features of a new street furniture intervention and examining them from the view-point of business. The conceptual lens used for this purpose is the resource-based view (R-BV) of the firm, which only gives importance to those resources which are deemed \u2018valuable\u2019, \u2018rare\u2019, \u2018inimitable\u2019 and \u2018non-substitutable\u2019. The outcome of the theoretical assessment reveals the \u201cvalue\u201d of the new street furniture and the satisfaction with it, which is testified by the coming back of a number of firms, by the activation of private investments and by the fact that the existing businesses stopped leaving the old town centre. Emerges the possibility to exploit street furniture as a valuable firm\u2019s resource through the start-up of firms which apply widespread hospitality models as the \u2018Albergo Diffuso\u2019 (literally translated in:\u201cscattered hotel\u201d)

A Requirement-centric Approach to Web Service Modeling, Discovery, and Selection

Service-Oriented Computing (SOC) has gained considerable popularity for implementing Service-Based Applications (SBAs) in a flexible\ud and effective manner. The basic idea of SOC is to understand users'\ud requirements for SBAs first, and then discover and select relevant\ud services (i.e., that fit closely functional requirements) and offer\ud a high Quality of Service (QoS). Understanding users’ requirements\ud is already achieved by existing requirement engineering approaches\ud (e.g., TROPOS, KAOS, and MAP) which model SBAs in a requirement-driven\ud manner. However, discovering and selecting relevant and high QoS\ud services are still challenging tasks that require time and effort\ud due to the increasing number of available Web services. In this paper,\ud we propose a requirement-centric approach which allows: (i) modeling\ud users’ requirements for SBAs with the MAP formalism and specifying\ud required services using an Intentional Service Model (ISM); (ii)\ud discovering services by querying the Web service search engine Service-Finder\ud and using keywords extracted from the specifications provided by\ud the ISM; and(iii) selecting automatically relevant and high QoS services\ud by applying Formal Concept Analysis (FCA). We validate our approach\ud by performing experiments on an e-books application. The experimental\ud results show that our approach allows the selection of relevant and\ud high QoS services with a high accuracy (the average precision is\ud 89.41%) and efficiency (the average recall is 95.43%)

Additional ecological services of CSO-CW besides water treatment: modelling CSO-CW behaviour for urban runoff management

INTRODUCTION Combined sewer overflows (CSOs) have been recognized as a dangerous pollutant source for receiving water bodies, and CSO treatment is hence very important to promote a sustainable development. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are starting to be considered as a viable and eco-sustainable technology to treat CSOs (Meyer et al., 2013). However, CSO-CW provides other ecological services beside to water treatment: (i) urban runoff management, (ii) biodiversity increase, (iii) social services (e.g., recreation). Here we have developed a mathematical model of a real case study to highlight the functioning of CSO-CW as also a flood mitigation system, which promotes an urban runoff management from a post-development (high peak, short duration) back again to a pre-development (low peak, high duration) hydrograph influent to the river (Fletcher et al., 2013). METHODS The experimental case study is located in Gorla Maggiore, Italy (46°N, 9°E). The CSO-CW is composed of: (i) grid and sedimentation tank as first flush primary treatment; (ii) four French-type vertical subsurface flow (VF) CW beds as secondary stage (3840 m2) designed to treat the first flush (up to 640 l s-1); (iii) a free water surface flow (FWS) wetland with multiple roles of tertiary treatment of first flush and also second flush treatment (3174 m2), biodiversity increasing, recreational area, and hydraulic buffer (with a floodable surface area up to 7200 m2). The theoretical hydraulic retention time (HRT) is equal to 36 h. A sampling campaign has been done in 2014 in order to characterise temporal variations of CSO quality and quantity and to assess CW removal performances. The data about water quantity (CSO flow rates continuously registered by an automatic sensor with a sampling frequency of 15 minutes) are here used as input of the mathematical model. The mathematical model simulates the unsaturated water flow in VF beds (Richards equation) and the depth of the ponding layer above the VF surface and in the FWS (mass balance equations). In this way, water outflows from each stage of the CW plant are estimated, and the flood mitigation efficiency of the CW is evaluated for different type of CSO events (i.e., single or multiple average CSO events, high return time CSO event). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The model results show the good performance of the CSO-CW as flood mitigation system. The single CSO average event (883 m3 over 2.4 hours, with a maximum flow rate of 250 l/s) is satisfactorily laminated: (i) the peak flow is reduced by 95%; (ii) the outflow duration is 21 times longer than the one of the CSO event; (iii) the CW is able to store 95% of the influent volume during the CSO event.The CSO-CW exhibits also performs well for CSO mitigation when a sequence of consecutive CSO average events (up to 5, i.e. the maximum number of consecutive CSO events registered) is considered as shown in Figure 1. In this case, the peak flow is reduced by 53%, the outflow is prolonged 5.7 times compared to the CSO event duration, and 38% of the influent volume is stored during the CSO event. Flood mitigation performances remain high also for events with high return time (equal to 10 years – maximum flow rate: 3.4 m3 s−1, volume: 11497 m3, duration: 4.8 h), for which the FWS behaves as a buffer system storing 71% of the influent volume, in addition to the lower (11%) but not negligible mitigation effect provided by the VF beds. Moreover, the peak flow (86% reduction) and the outflow duration (27 times longer than the CSO event duration) are satisfactorily improved for such 10 year return time events. Fig. 1. Influent and simulated effluent flow rate from CSO-CW treatment for a sequence of 5 consecutive CSO mean events: influent CSO (gray line), VF outflow (dotted line), VF overflow (dashed line), and FWS outflow (continuous line). CONCLUSIONS The results of this modelling study confirm the potential of CWs to behave as flood mitigation systems providing the additional ecological service of sustainable urban runoff management. The selected case study demonstrates how CSO-CW promotes a shift from a post-development (high peak, short duration) to a pre-development (low peak, high duration) hydrograph influent to the river water body

Impact of upstream landslide on perialpine lake ecosystem: An assessment using multi-temporal satellite data

Monitoring freshwater and wetland systems and their response to stressors of natural or anthropogenic origin is critical for ecosystem conservation. A multi-temporal set of 87 images, acquired by Sentinel-2 satellites over three years (2016–2018), provided quantitative information for assessing the temporal evolution of key ecosystem variables in the perialpine Lake Mezzola (northern Italy), which has suffered from the impacts of a massive landslide that took place upstream of the lake basin in summer 2017. Sentinel-2 derived products revealed an increase in lake turbidity triggered by the landslide that amounted to twice the average values scored in the years preceding and following the event. Hotspots of turbidity within the lake were in particular highlighted. Moreover, both submerged and riparian vegetation showed harmful impacts due to sediment deposition. A partial loss of submerged macrophyte cover was found, with delayed growth and a possible community shift in favor of species adapted to inorganic substrates. Satellite-derived seasonal dynamics showed that exceptional sediment load can overwrite climatic factors in controlling phenology of riparian reed beds, resulting in two consecutive years with shorter than normal growing season and roughly 20% drop in productivity, according to spectral proxies. Compared to 2016, senescence came earlier by around 20 days on average in 2017 season, and green-up was delayed by up to 50 days (20 days, on average) in 2018, following the landslide. The approach presented could be easily implemented for continuous monitoring of similar ecosystems subject to external pressures with periods of high sediment loads

A Goal-based Framework for Contextual Requirements Modeling and Analysis

Requirements Engineering (RE) research often ignores, or presumes a uniform nature of the context in which the system operates. This assumption is no longer valid in emerging computing paradigms, such as ambient, pervasive and ubiquitous computing, where it is essential to monitor and adapt to an inherently varying context. Besides influencing the software, context may influence stakeholders' goals and their choices to meet them. In this paper, we propose a goal-oriented RE modeling and reasoning framework for systems operating in varying contexts. We introduce contextual goal models to relate goals and contexts; context analysis to refine contexts and identify ways to verify them; reasoning techniques to derive requirements reflecting the context and users priorities at runtime; and finally, design time reasoning techniques to derive requirements for a system to be developed at minimum cost and valid in all considered contexts. We illustrate and evaluate our approach through a case study about a museum-guide mobile information system

PARTECIPAZIONE E GRADIMENTO DI UN PERCORSO DI ACCOMPAGNAMENTO PSICOLOGICO RIVOLTO ALLE MATRICOLE DELLA FACOLTÀ DI MEDICINA

Obiettivi: valutare la partecipazione e il gradimento delle matricole che aderiscono al “Progetto Accoglienza”, un percorso di accoglienza e accompagnamento psicologico, attivo da quattro anni, presso il Corso di Laurea in Medicina e Chirurgia dell’Università degli Studi di Brescia. Metodo: il percorso si fonda sull’implementazione della figura di studenti senior (tutor), adeguatamente formati e supervisionati da docenti della Sezione di Psicologia Clinica, attraverso l’utilizzo di modalità gruppali, in accordo con specifiche metodologie utilizzate da tempo in psicologia clinica. I tutor fungono da riferimenti rassicuranti e identificatori per le matricole, che a loro volta aderiscono al progetto in modo volontario e ricevono crediti opzionali, al fine di riconoscere il valore formativo dello scambio fra studenti del primo anno e studenti senior. Per la valutazione del livello di gradimento è stato predisposto un questionario ad hoc, elaborato in parte sulla base di strumenti utilizzati nei corsi professionali in cui è previsto l’accreditamento e in parte sulla base di proposte e riflessioni fra i docenti di psicologia dell’Ateneo, che non hanno preso parte al progetto. Risultati: il numero di studenti che partecipa con regolarità al percorso di accoglienza è cresciuto nei quattro anni: da 125 a 164. Gli studenti hanno in media un’età di 19.3 anni (±1.7) e sono in prevalenza femmine. Il questionario di gradimento viene compilato in media dall’85% delle matricole coinvolte. Quasi la totalità di esse riferisce che ripeterebbe l’esperienza, anche senza crediti formativi; il 98% la consiglierebbe ad una nuova matricola. Per quanto riguarda rilevanza, efficacia e utilità del percorso rispetto alle proprie esigenze formative, anche in questo caso la maggior parte degli studenti riporta una valutazione positiva. Conclusioni: i dati raccolti mostrano un gradimento medio-alto, che si mantiene costante negli anni. Si ritiene che tale percorso possa fornire un aiuto concreto per fronteggiare le difficoltà associate all’ingresso nell’Università. Fra gli indicatori di efficacia di consimili interventi nel lungo periodo, riteniamo utile la ricaduta in termini di prevenzione del drop out e dell’ allungamento temporale del corso di studi

In silico identification of new putative pathogenic variants in the NEU1 sialidase gene affecting enzyme function and subcellular localization

The NEU1 gene is the first identified member of the human sialidases, glycohydrolitic enzymes that remove the terminal sialic acid from oligosaccharide chains. Mutations in NEU1 gene are causative of sialidosis (MIM 256550), a severe lysosomal storage disorder showing autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Sialidosis has been classified into two subtypes: sialidosis type I, a normomorphic, late-onset form, and sialidosis type II, a more severe neonatal or early-onset form. A total of 50 causative mutations are reported in HGMD database, most of which are missense variants. To further characterize the NEU1 gene and identify new functionally relevant protein isoforms, we decided to study its genetic variability in the human population using the data generated by two large sequencing projects: the 1000 Genomes Project (1000G) and the NHLBI GO Exome Sequencing Project (ESP). Together these two datasets comprise a cohort of 7595 sequenced individuals, making it possible to identify rare variants and dissect population specific ones. By integrating this approach with biochemical and cellular studies, we were able to identify new rare missense and frameshift alleles in NEU1 gene. Among the 9 candidate variants tested, only two resulted in significantly lower levels of sialidase activity (pC and c.700G>A. These two mutations give rise to the amino acid substitutions p.V217A and p.D234N, respectively. NEU1 variants including either of these two amino acid changes have 44% and 25% residual sialidase activity when compared to the wild-type enzyme, reduced protein levels and altered subcellular localization. Thus they may represent new, putative pathological mutations resulting in sialidosis type I. The in silico approach used in this study has enabled the identification of previously unknown NEU1 functional alleles that are widespread in the population and could be tested in future functional studies