Forced response of shrouded blades with a coupled static/dynamic approach

A coupled static-dynamic method is proposed and applied to bladed disks with shrouds, in order to calculate the nonlinear forced response in presence of friction damping in the frequency domain. The novel approach allows to improve the already existing methods, which require a preliminary static analysi

ENERGY FUTURES AND CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: A QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT IN THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS PERSPECTIVE

The 2030 Agenda – with its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – and the Paris Agreement represent a turning point for Sustainable Development. For the first time, the world’s leaders have developed an integrated sustainable agenda and ratified a global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, recognizing that the current development model is not sustainable from an economic, social and environmental standpoint. Sustainable energy, being the driver of social and economic growth, will play a crucial role in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda objectives and for closing the gap to the mitigation targets of 2°C and 1.5°C defined by the Paris Agreement.This paper aims at showing that SDG 7 – the SDG dedicated to energy – can be considered as an enabling factor for the implementation of the other SDGs, and in particular of SDG 13, the goal on climate action.  This relation is bidirectional, meaning that mitigation of climate change is positively driven by the deployment of sustainable energy services, and that the integration of climate change mitigation strategies into national policies positively contributes to the deployment of sustainable energy solutions. The paper also shows that future energy scenarios, compatible with the above-mentioned ambitious mitigation targets, are in line with the SDG 7 Targets that can benefit from the strong technology innovation that those scenarios will require. The digitalization of the electricity sector through smart meters for demand side management and smart grids for distributed renewable generation is one example of the role of technology innovation toward SDG 7

La tutela e la valorizzazione della biodiversità agraria. Il caso dei prodotti dell'Arca del Gusto della Condotta Slow Food Lucca Compitese e Orti Lucchesi

Negli ultimi decenni il tema della tutela della biodiversità si è sempre fatto più importante e ne sono prova le tantissime politiche e campagne fatte per la sua difesa. Questa tesi di laurea, tratta della tutela della biodiversità agricola e della valorizzazione di alcuni prodotti presenti nella Provincia di Lucca. Dopo un analisi sull’importanza della salvaguardia della biodiversità agricola e sulle strategie per il suo mantenimento, il lavoro si concentra sull’analisi tecnico-economica di tre produzioni agricole tipiche della Provincia Lucchese quali Pomodoro canestrino, Cardone o Cardo Gobbo e Fagiolo Stringa. Lo studio è stato condotto attraverso il reperimento delle informazioni qualitative e quantitative tramite la somministrazione di interviste ad alcune delle aziende che si occupano della coltivazione di questi prodotti in modo da analizzare le principali problematiche di natura tecnica e commerciale ai fini dell’individuazione di una specifica strategia di valorizzazione di questi prodotti

Monitoraggio delle risorse forestali in ambiente mediterraneo mediante telerilavamento

Monitoring forest resources in Mediterranean environment using remote sensing techniques. Since the Neolithic pastoralism has played a major role in the landscape changes of the Mediterranean basin; during the last century the increased anthropic pressure on Mediterranean ecosystems (overgrazing, fires, overcultivation of unsuitable areas) led to severe land degradation phenomena. The typical Mediterranean forest ecosystems have undergone a progressive and steady depletion, resulting in very fragmented and heterogeneous landscapes. In this context monitoring forest resources at regional scale represents a major issue towards the identification of areas threatened by land degradation where mitigation actions have to be carried out. Remote sensing is a powerful tool for monitoring natural and forest resources due to its synoptic and multitemporal characteristics. Nevertheless, the heterogeneity and rapid dynamics of secondary vegetation after disturbances (overgrazing or fires) make complex the use of the traditional classification techniques of remote sensed images. In this study we present preliminary results obtained with the application of traditional and innovating procedures for land cover classification (Maximum Likelihood Classification, Spectral Mixture Analysis) in central-eastern Sardinia

Tecnologías emergentes aplicadas a la educación física desde una perspectiva innovadora

Máster Profesorado de Educación Secundaria y Bachillerato, Formación Profesional y Enseñanza de Idiomas. Especialidad de Educación Físic

Antimicrobial, antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase properties of extracts of the Mediterranean parasitic plant Cytinus hypocistis

Background: Cytinus is an endophytic parasitic plant occurring in South Africa, Madagascar, and in the Mediterranean region. We have extracted the inflorescences (the only visible part of the plant, emerging from the host roots at the time of blossom) of Cytinus hypocistis collected in Sardinia, Italy, and explored the antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-tyrosinase, and cytotoxic activities of the extracts. Methods: Extracts from C. hypocistis were prepared using increasing polarity solvents: cyclohexane, ethanol, and water. Phenolic composition were determined through spectrophotometric assays, and antioxidant activity with both electron-transfer and hydrogen-atom assays. Nine different bacterial strains, including clinical isolate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, were used in agar diffusion method. Cytotoxicity was tested using against the B16F10 melanoma cell line. Results: While cyclohexane extracts where biologically inactive, ethanolic and aqueous extracts displayed an intriguing activity against several Gram-positive bacterial strains, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and against the Gram-negative Acinetobacter baumanii. Compared to the conventional antibiotics like cloxacillin, ampicillin, and oxytetracycline, C. hypocistis extracts were less active in absolute terms, but displayed a wider spectrum (notably, cloxacillin and ampicillin were inactive against methicillin-resistant S. aureus). The ethanolic extract of C. hypocistis was found to be particularly rich in polyphenols, in most part hydrolysable tannins. The antioxidant activity of extracts, tested with several methodologies, resulted to be particularly high in the case of ethanolic extracts, in accordance with the composition in phenolics. In detail, ethanol extracts presented about a twofold higher activity than the water sample when tested through the oxygen radical absorbance capacity-pyrogallol red (ORAC-PYR) assay. Cytotoxicity analysis against the B16F10 melanoma cell line showed that both extracts have not significant cytotoxic effect, even at the highest dose (1000 μg/mL). Tests showed that ethanolic extracts also had the greatest tyrosinase inhibition activity, indicating that C. hypocistis-derived substances could find application in food formulations as anti-browning agents. Conclusions: Overall, these results point to the need of further studies on C. hypocistis extracts, aimed at isolating and fully characterizing its biologically active compounds. © 2015 Zucca et al

An uncommon case of inferior vena cava injury during atrial fibrillation ablation

A 64-year-old man underwent catheter ablation (CA) of atrial fibrillation with intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) assistance. As the probe was advanced toward the right atrium, sudden abdominal pain was felt by the patient with hypotension and tachycardia requiring fluids and vasopressors for hemodynamic stabilization. The inferior vena cava (IVC) was injured by the passing probe and open repair was then performed. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of symptomatic IVC laceration by the probe used for ICE during CA

Absence of polyphenol oxidase in cynomorium coccineum, a widespread holoparasitic plant

Polyphenol oxidase (PPO, E.C. 1.14.18.1) is a nearly ubiquitous enzyme that is widely distributed among organisms. Despite its widespread distribution, the role of PPO in plants has not been thoroughly elucidated. In this study, we report for the absence of PPO in Cynomorium coccineum, a holoparasitic plant adapted to withstand unfavorable climatic conditions, growing in Mediterranean countries and amply used in traditional medicine. The lack of PPO has been demonstrated by the absence of enzymatic activity with various substrates, by the lack of immunohistochemical detection of the enzyme, and by the absence of the PPO gene and, consequently, its expression. The results obtained in our work allow us to exclude the presence of the PPO activity (both latent and mature forms of the enzyme), as well as of one or more genes coding for PPO in C. coccineum. Finally, we discuss the possible significance of PPO deficiency in parasitic plants adapted to abiotic stress

An EPID Dosimetry Verification During Treatment

Purpose: This work reports the extension of a semiempirical method based on the correlation ratios to convert electronic portal imaging devices transit signals into in vivo doses for the step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiotherapy Siemens beams. The dose reconstructed at the isocenter point Diso, compared to the planned dose, Diso,TPS, and a γ-analysis between 2-dimensional electronic portal imaging device images obtained day to day, seems to supply a practical method to verify the beam delivery reproducibility. Method: The electronic portal imaging device images were obtained by the superposition of many segment fields, and the algorithm for the Diso reconstruction for intensity-modulated radiotherapy step and shoot was formulated using a set of simulated intensity-modulated radiotherapy beams. Moreover, the in vivo dose-dedicated software was integrated with the record and verify system of the centers. Results: Three radiotherapy centers applied the in vivo dose procedure at 30 clinical intensity-modulated radiotherapy treatments, each one obtained with 5 or 7 beams, and planned for patients undergoing radiotherapy for prostatic tumors. Each treatment beam was checked 5 times, obtaining 900 tests of the ratios R = Diso/Diso,TPS. The average R value was equal to 1.002 ± 0.056 (2 standard deviation), while the mean R value for each patient was well within 5%, once the causes of errors were removed. The γ-analysis of the electronic portal imaging device images, with 3% 3 mm acceptance criteria, showed 90% of the tests with Pγ < 1 ≥ 95% and γmean ≤ 0.5. The off-tolerance tests were found due to incorrect setup or presence of morphological changes. This preliminary experience shows the great utility of obtaining the in vivo dose results in quasi real time and close to the linac, where the radiotherapy staff may immediately spot possible causes of errors. The in vivo dose procedure presented here is one of the objectives of a project, for the development of practical in vivo dose procedures, financially supported by the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare