Improved angular discretization and error analysis of the lattice boltzmann method for solving radiative heat transfer in a participating medium

In this paper, some improvements to the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) for solving radiative heat transfer in a participating medium are presented and validated. Validation of the model is performed by investigating the effects of spatial and angular discretizations and extinction coefficient on the solution. The error analysis and the order of convergence of the scheme are also reporte

What Is Our Point of View on “Energy Independence and Research for Economic and Environmental Sustainability”?

The scope of this contribution is to stimulate critical debate on what are the implication of “energy independence” and “energy research” on the sustainable development of society. We point out how energy independence is strongly related to the penetration of renewable energy sources; and how the country's energy independence is not expected to be achieved in a short-medium period. Moreover, the trends of low found to the research on energy topics are not consistent with the pursuit of sustainable development of society. With these observations, we want to contribute to the debate on what policies that will have an impact on the sustainable development of society, suggesting to focus on the point of view of those actors that will play the main role in the next future

The role of electron capture decay in the precision era of Galactic cosmic-ray data

Electron capture (EC) decay relies on attachment and stripping cross-sections, that in turn, depend on the atomic number of the nucleus. We revisit the impact of EC decay in the context of the high-precision cosmic-ray fluxes measured by the AMS-02 experiment. We derive the solution of the steady-state fluxes in a 1D thin disk model including EC decay. We compare our results with relevant elemental and isotopic fluxes and evaluate the impact of this process, given the precision of recent AMS-02, ACE-CRIS, SuperTIGER, and Voyager data. We find this impact to be at the level or larger than the precision of recently collected data for several species, e.g. $_{31}$Ga and $_{33}$As, indicating that EC decay must be properly taken into account in the calculation.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings for International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC) 202

The Bright and Dark Side of DNA Methylation: A Matter of Balance

DNA methylation controls several cellular processes, from early development to old age, including biological responses to endogenous or exogenous stimuli contributing to disease transition. As a result, minimal DNA methylation changes during developmental stages drive severe phenotypes, as observed in germ-line imprinting disorders, while genome-wide alterations occurring in somatic cells are linked to cancer onset and progression. By summarizing the molecular events governing DNA methylation, we focus on the methods that have facilitated mapping and understanding of this epigenetic mark in healthy conditions and diseases. Overall, we review the bright (health-related) and dark (disease-related) side of DNA methylation changes, outlining how bulk and single-cell genomic analyses are moving toward the identification of new molecular targets and driving the development of more specific and less toxic demethylating agents

Development of a methodology for studying tunnel climate in long railway tunnels and for optimizing the design process of cross-passage cooling systems

When it comes into operation in 2026, the Koralmtunnel in Austria will be the world́s seventh longest railway tunnel. The installation of the power supply, telecommunications and electro-mechanical services is currently ongoing. Parts of these systems have to be protected from temperature and humidity variations and from the high dust loads which are characteristic of the tunnel atmosphere. In particular, cooling systems are required to counteract the significant amounts of heat released by some installations. Information on a large number of parameters (e.g. tunnel air temperatures) is required in the design process. However, such information is only partly available in the design stage. Hence, a prediction of tunnel air temperatures has to be made. Additionally, since hardly any information about the tunnel climate in long railway tunnels is available and in-situ mea- surements are not possible, as thermal conditions differ significantly between the construction/equipping phase and the operation phase, a novel methodology for the prediction of the tunnel climate had to be developed. This article presents a description of a new method comprising four main investigative steps and of its application to the Koralmtunnel as a selected case study. While steps 1 and 2 provide information about the actual cooling requirement and tunnel air temperatures for a period of 50 years, steps three and four of the investigation aim at the technical and economic optimization of cooling systems

Digital Platforms for Renewable Energy Communities Projects: An Overview

The European Union energy policy agenda of achieving the transition to carbon neutrality has been established by an important legislative package called "Clean Energy for all Europeans". A novel approach introduced was to put the citizen at the center of the energy transition. On one side, by powering his freedom of action and, on the other side, by asking him an exceptional engagement in energy consumption reduction activities and in participating in the investments for new distributed Renewable Energy Sources (RES) power plants. The Renewable Energy Communities (REC) is the policy framework used to implement this strategy introduced by the Renewable Energy Directive Recast (RED II). In particular, RECs promote citizen’s active role by encouraging energy consumption reduction and energy demand flexibility while reducing the Not In My Bachyard (NIMBY) effect towards RES. Each member state is transposing the RED II directive, adapting it to national legislation and energy transition strategy. Pioneers countries like Italy have already started the experimentation of this framework and developing the first pilot projects. The citizens’ interest and their will to participate in REC projects indicate the need for supporting tools guiding them along all the project development stages: “design”, “creation”, and “operation”. This work presents three categories of supporting digital tools and platforms required to develop REC projects: Commercial, EU Founded and Freeware. We analyzed 30 tools, evaluating the services provided in each of the different stages of REC project implementation

Simulation of the Impact on the Workload of the Enlargement of the Clinical Staff of a Specialistic Reference Center

Quality of care and patient satisfaction are important aspects of high standard care. If clinical staff is subject to an elevated workload there is a possible decrease of both. This justifies the development of tools to quantify the workload and to find organizational changes that will normalize it. We have previously developed a simulation system to quantify the workload of the staff working in a regional reference center for the treatment of bleeding and hemorrhagic disorders. The goal of this new work is to simulate, through an agent-based model, the impact of adding a physician to the staff. Ten sets of initial parameters were defined to simulate ten typical weeks. Results show that the introduction of the new physician together with a second ambulatory room can reduce the workload of all the staff to the expected 8-hour. In this situation, in which the staff workload does not exceed the daily capacity, we may suppose that an increase in the quality of care and patient satisfaction will be possible