Fuel type based vehicles choice

The aim of the paper is to analyse the researches performed so far on vehicle choice according to the fuel type. There are different reasons to be interested in this theme. Among the most relevant we recall the following: a. increasing costs of conventional fuel; b. development of new fuel types; c. different fuel efficiency; d. higher productivity standards, due to crisis of car corporations; e. Italy’s car fleet has a 30% of vehicles that are ten years or older and also by a strong preference towards buying gasoline and diesel fuelled vehicles. The paper proposes a critical analysis of vehicle choice analysis based on fuel type (e.g. gasoline/diesel, CNG and hybrid). A significant number of studies are centred on the consumer. As noted by Achtnicht (2008) the choice depends on the person’s age, gender and level of schooling. Other authors have inquired the actual gap between the performance of conventional fuels (diesel/gasoline) and that of alternative fuel (hybrid). The lack of a diffused network of refuelling stations, particularly with reference to the CNG (compressed natural gas), has also been highlighted by Achtnicht, Buhler e Hermeling (2009). Several electrical car market development researches, such as the Salerno’s and Zito’s ones (2004), have stressed its high purchasing price and its maintenance costs. We will consider, for the different studies, the methodologies used by the authors, their specific area of research, the results obtained, the criticalities, and eventually the trends and developments.

Ouabain-induced cytoplasmic vesicles and their role in cell volume maintenance

Cellular swelling is controlled by an active mechanism of cell volume regulation driven by a Na+/K+-dependent ATPase and by aquaporins which translocate water along the osmotic gradient. Na+/K+-pump may be blocked by ouabain, a digitalic derivative, by inhibition of ATP, or by drastic ion alterations of extracellular fluid. However, it has been observed that some tissues are still able to control their volume despite the presence of ouabain, suggesting the existence of other mechanisms of cell volume control. In 1977, by correlating electron microscopy observation with ion and water composition of liver slices incubated in differentmetabolic conditions in the presence or absence of ouabain, we observed that hepatocytes were able to control their volume extruding water and recovering ion composition in the presence of ouabain. In particular, hepatocytes were able to sequester ions and water in intracellular vesicles and then secrete themat the bile canaliculus pole.We named this “vesicularmechanismof cell volume control.” Afterward, thismechanism has been confirmed by us and other laboratories in several mammalian tissues.This review summarizes evidences regarding this mechanism, problems that are still pending, and questions that need to be answered. Finally, we shortly review the importance of cell volume control in some human pathological conditions

Analysis of a wearable robotic system for ankle rehabilitation

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. As one of the most commonly injured joints of the human body, the ankle is often subject to sprains or fractures that require motion assistance to recover mobility. Whereas physiotherapists usually perform rehabilitation in one-on-one sessions with patients, several successful robotic rehabilitation solutions have been proposed in the last years. However, their design is usually bulky and requires the patient to sit or stand in a static position. A lightweight wearable device for ankle motion assistance, the CABLEankle, is here proposed for motion ankle exercising in rehabilitation and training. The CABLEankle is based on a cable-driven S-4SPS parallel architecture, which enables motion assistance over the large motion range of the human ankle in a walking gait. The proposed mechanism design is analyzed with kinematic and static models, and the force closure workspace of the mechanism is discussed with analytical results. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed design is investigated through numerical simulations over the ankle motion range as a characterization of the peculiar motion

Drying kinetics and physico-chemical quality of mango slices

Mango (Mangifera indica L.) is an important tropical fruit consumed worldwide and grown in Italy only in Sicily, where the areas of the Tyrrhenian coast have proved to be suitable to produce valuable fruits. Mango fruit has a pleasant aroma and taste, which are important qualities for consumer’s sensorial acceptance. However, they are highly perishable, prone to progressive undesired changes if stored untreated, resulting in around 25% postharvest losses, which is further increased during storage and transportation. An alternative for reducing the above-mentioned undesired changes is the dehydration of the cut fruit, which reduce the fruit water activity, thereby avoiding the deteriorative process and extending the shelf-life. This study investigates the effect of dehydration at different temperatures (50, 60 and 70°C) on drying kinetics and volatile compounds of two cultivars (Keitt and Osteen) of mango fruits cultivated in Sicily. Significant losses of volatile constituents of fresh mango occurred at higher temperature, especially for the Osteen cultivar. A diffusion model including the effect of shrinkage is also proposed, which may be used to describe drying behaviour of fruits and to define the optimal drying conditions.. Experimental data of the moisture ratio during drying were well predicted by the model

Il sistema portuale siculo-maltese per lo sviluppo del trasporto merci e della logistica nel contesto euromediterraneo

La politica dell’Unione Europea pone grande importanza ad uno sviluppo del trasporto efficiente e sostenibile, da attuarsi attraverso il rafforzamento dei traffici intermodali e la liberalizzazione dei porti con tariffe competitive nei servizi di movimentazione container. Il Mediterraneo, in particolare, ha visto una notevole espansione di tale tipologia di traffico, dovuta a una rinnovata centralità per il trasferimento del fulcro dell’economia mondiale verso l’Estremo Oriente. La programmazione europea al 2020 ha, inoltre, ridefinito il Corridoio I delle reti TEN-T, estendendo l’asse da Helsinki a Malta, includendo la Sicilia. In una situazione globale di questo genere i porti di queste aree potrebbero acquisire una condizione di vantaggio competitivo. Questo lavoro analizza la situazione attuale e le potenzialità del sistema portuale siculo-maltese, tema d’interesse per la valutazione di politiche d’intervento infrastrutturale e organizzativo. Il presente articolo, dopo aver analizzato l’andamento dei traffici, la dotazione di infrastrutturale e il ruolo che tali porti ricoprono nel Mediterraneo, si sofferma sulle politiche europee e nazionali rilevanti per questi scali. In tale scenario emerge una traiettoria di sviluppo necessaria ma anche rischiosa, che deve considerare attentamente i costi-opportunità nella realizzazione di grandi opere di ammodernamento e di collegamento. L’obiettivo del rilancio del sistema portuale siculo-maltese è possibile perché vi sono i presupposti non solo geografici ma anche commerciali. E’ però necessario investire sulle infrastrutture per rendere funzionale la circolazione delle merci all’interno di tale sistema logistico integrato. In assenza di tali interventi si rischia di non cogliere possibili opportunità ma, addirittura, di scomparire come porti container. Il lavoro si conclude formulando alcune proposte di policy per evitare tale rischio e prospettando un percorso di sviluppo basato su nuove, e possibili, sinergie

HeritageBot platform for service in Cultural Heritage frames

A service robot for Cultural Heritage frames is proposed as a novel robotic platform with a modular design for both ground locomotion and flight capability. The peculiarities of the system are discussed by performance evaluation via simulation. A prototype has been built and tested both to prove the feasibility of the proposed design and to characterize its operation performance

One special question to start with: can HIF/NFkB be a target in inflammation?

Hypoxia and Inflammation are strictly interconnected with important consequences at clinical and therapeutic level. While cell and tissue damage due to acute hypoxia mostly leads to cell necrosis, in chronic hypoxia, cells that are located closer to vessels are able to survive adapting their phenotype through the expression of a number of genes, including proinflammatory receptors for alarmins. These receptors are activated by alarmins released by necrotic cells and generate signals for master transcription factors such as NFkB, AP1, etc. which control hundreds of genes for innate immunity and damage repair. Clinical consequences of chronic inflammatory reparative response activation include cell and tissue remodeling, damage in the primary site and, the systemic involvement of distant organs and tissues. Thus every time a tissue environment becomes stably hypoxic, inflammation can be activated followed by chronic damage and cell death or repair with vessel proliferation and fibrosis. This pathway can occur in cancer, myocardial infarction and stroke, diabetes, obesity, neurodegenerative diseases, chronic and autoimmune diseases and age-related diseases. Interestingly, proinflammatory gene expression can be observed earlier in hypoxic tissue cells and, in addition, in activated resident or recruited leukocytes. Herewith, the reciprocal relationships between hypoxia and inflammation will be shortly reviewed to underline the possible therapeutic targets to control hypoxia-related inflammation in a number of epidemiologically important human diseases and conditions