Search

The awareness of environmental protection, with the conservation of resources and the efficient use of industrial waste, has attracted the attention in recent decades as both the overexploitation of natural resources and the disposal of industrial waste have a negative impact on the environment and sustainability [1]. Under such circumstances, replacing ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with industrial waste has been shown as a sustainable and practical way to reduce the use of natural resources, as well as landfill waste and pollution [2]. The discussion of this issue is part of a path, which sees as its starting point the design of a hydraulic pipeline prototype (Figure 1) made of geopolymer mortar instead of conventional concrete pipes. The environmental sustainability of geopolymer mortars was demonstrated through the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology. Analysis results indicate that the use of eco-friendly materials contributes to minimizing the environmental impact of new technologies for engineering sector.

The production of lightweight artificial aggregates proposed in this study derives from industrial waste recovery activities, such as fly ash (FA) and ground granulated blast furnace slag. The aim is to reduce the compromise of the environment and human health, through the recycling of special waste. The use of inert aggregates from recovery from industrial waste encourages the reduction of soil consumption, the waste of natural aggregates, consequently limiting the consumption of waste materials from quarries, as well as facilitating the recovery of waste that would inevitably end up in landfilled or abandoned in the environment. Specifically, in the present work, the lightweight artificial aggregates were produced by cold bonding granulation technique. All the mixtures, made by 80% of FA with various composition of cement and granulated blast furnace slag, were characterized by density values ranging from 1.63 to 1.66 g cm-3 suggesting their suitable classification as lightweight aggregates (LWAs). Water absorption capacity (WAC) and open porosity values decreased with the increase of the percentage in cement. The impact test results indicate that all the aggregates have proved to be suitable as filling for road pavements. The best crushing strength values (1.86 MPa) were observed for the mixture contain the highest amount of cement. Aggregate leaching tests indicated a significant release of chlorides and sulphates while the release of heavy metals was lower than the limits set by the standard UNI 10802.

Every year, in the world, the produced quantities of plastic amount to approximately 400 million tons. This implies a high level of plastic pollution and a growing decrease of available natural resources. Therefore, seems to be clear that there is a need to act in such a way as to reduce plastic pollution, safeguard natural resources and prevent the disposition of great quantities of waste in landfills or, even worse, the discharging into marine waters. This explains the need to implement processes of recovery and recycling of this plastic waste and their reuse in operable and practical products. Many studies analyzed the chances of employing plastic waste to produce cement and concrete, but the research about the use of polyolefins for the production of lightweight concretes is still limited. This study shows that the use of recycled polyolefins as substitutes of natural aggregates is a viable solution for the production of lightweight concretes by analyzing the influence of this kind of plastic on mechanical, physical and thermal performance, through experimental tests performed on four samples containing different amounts of plastic aggregates.

The recycling of construction and demolition waste (CDW) is currently of growing interest. Starting from such waste products it’s possible to produce recycled aggregates for construction purposes providing environmental and economic advantages. Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a valuable tool to evaluate the environmental impact at end of life of CDW and improve the employment of recycled aggregates in concrete. In this research a life cycle evaluation of concrete mixtures made with CDW is performed to assess their environmental impacts considering various scenarios related to recycling sites with different conveying distances. The advantages of replacing natural aggregates with recycled ones are evaluated using a combination of LCA model and Life-Cycle Impact Assessment to estimate the environmental effects for all the considered scenarios. The results highlighted the highest environmental impact for the scenario with total landfill as well as an increasing impact for increasing distance from the demolition site.

In this work, the potentialities of the amino-functionalized, chromium-based MIL-101 metal organic framework (NH2-MIL-101) as a high capacity, fully regenerable hydrogen chloride adsorbent have been proved by a thorough adsorption thermodynamics investigation. The chosen adsorbent showed high gaseous HCl adsorption capacities and, to the best of our knowledge, it is the first example of a totally regenerable substrate for this kind of adsorbate, as evidenced by both experimental and modeling results. This paves the way to the implementation of greener, more energetically efficient pressure/temperature swing adsorption processes to purify biogas feeds for high-temperature fuel cells.

The present paper reexamines the psychometric properties of the Quality Perception Questionnaire (QPQ), an Italian survey instrument measuring patients’ perceptions of the quality of a recent hospital admission experience, in a sample of 4400 patients (Mage= 56.42 years; SD= 19.71 years, 48.8% females). The 14-item survey measures four factors: satisfaction with medical doctors, nursing staff, auxiliary staff, and hospital structures. First, we tested two models using a confirmatory factor analysis (structural equation modeling): a four orthogonal factor and a four oblique factor model. The SEM fit indices and the χ² difference suggested the acceptance of the second model. We then did a simulation using a bootstrap with 1000 replications. Results confirmed the four oblique factor solution. Third, we tested whether there were significant differences with respect to age or sex. The multivariate general linear model showed no significant differences in the factors with respect to sex or age.

In this work three samples of MSWI ash have been stabilized in systems containing coal fly ash and able to give geopolymers through a polycondensation reaction. Monolithic products were obtained with both MSWI ashes as received and after chloride partial removal by water washing. The polycondensation products have been characterized qualitatively by means of FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and quantitatively through the determination of the amount of reacted water and silicate. Differently from traditional cement based stabilization systems, those based on geopolymerization show a chemical behaviour almost insensitive to the presence of chlorides and sulphates in the MSWI ash. On the other hand, the microstructure is strongly affected by the content of soluble salts.

An experimental version of the Italian Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire with a 5-point scale was administered to a group of 1,000 high school students, 200 within each age group from 11 to 15 years. Following a previous exploratory factor analysis, which yielded a fourth factor in addition to the original three, the aim of the present research was to study the factor structure of the Italian version using confirmatory factor analysis. Three models were tested, a three-factor orthogonal model, a three-factor oblique model, and a four-factor model based on an a prioriseparation of extraversion items into two sets. None of the considered models converged satisfactorily. An interpretation of the results was proposed.

The aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of a proposed experimental version of the 1979 Italian adaptation of the Clinical Depression Questionnaire (Krug & Laughlin, 1976). This version is composed of an increased number of choice alternatives (5 instead of 3), tested with 240 Italian undergraduates. An exploratory item-factor analysis yielded one factor, which accounted for 28.2% of thevariance. Analysis of the relationship between this version and an experimental one in 2002 of the 1979 Italian edition of the Anxiety Scale Questionnaire showed the corrective factor was not effective in increasing the discriminative power of the questionnaire for anxiety.

In this work three samples of MSWI ash have been stabilized in systems containing coal fly ash and able to give geopolymers through a polycondensation reaction. Monolithic products were obtained with both MSWI ashes as received and after chloride partial removal by water washing. The polycondensation products have been characterized qualitatively by means of FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and quantitatively through the determination of the amount of reacted water and silicate. Differently from traditional cement based stabilization systems, those based on geopolymerization show a chemical behaviour almost insensitive to the presence of chlorides and sulphates in the MSWI ash. On the other hand, the microstructure is strongly affected by the content of soluble salts.

Abstract.: This study evaluated changes in lymphocyte subsets in patients with thyroid carcinoma who received iodine-131 for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Twenty thyroid cancer patients were entered in the study after total thyroidectomy: ten patients (group A) underwent whole-body scintigraphy with 185 MBq of 131I and the other ten (group B) received 3700 MBq of 131I therapy. All patients were in a hypothyroid state at the time of administration of 131I and started l-thyroxine 150 g/day 3 days after 131I administration. Free and bound triiodothyronine and thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone, thyroglobulin, thyroglobulin antibodies, thyroid peroxidase/microsomal antibodies, white blood cell, lymphocyte counts and lymphocyte subsets were serially determined at baseline and at days 2, 7, 15, 30 and 60 after 131I administration. Twenty healthy age- and sex-matched individuals were used as a reference population for lymphocyte subset values. In group A only a reduction in NK cells at days 7 (P=0.043) and 15 (P=0.037) was observed. In group B, patients showed a delayed reduction in the total lymphocyte count at days 15, 30 and 60 (P=0.008, 0.004 and 0.018, respectively), and a decrease in B cells throughout the study (at days 7, 15, 30 and 60: P=0.006, 0.0017, 0.0017 and 0.0017 respectively). A transient decrease in NK cells was observed at days 15 (P=0.025) and 30 (P=0.008). Among T cells, the helper phenotype (CD4+) was mainly affected, resulting in a reduction in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio at day 60 (P=0.046). Comparing the two groups, the numbers of B lymphocytes at day 30 (P=0.023) and NK cells at days 2 (P=0.037) and 30 (P=0.023) were significantly lower in group B. Neither group showed any clinical sign of immunosuppression during the follow-up period. In patients with thyroid cancer the sensitivity of lymphocytes to the effects of 131I administered for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes depends upon lymphocyte phenotype and 131I activity. NK cells are the most radiosensitive cells, being reduced even by low 131I activity. At higher activity all subtypes show a reduction, which is more marked and prolonged for B lymphocytes and, to a lesser extent, for T-helper lymphocytes. These changes do not result in clinically relevant immunosuppression.

Scintigraphy with the radiolabelled somatostatin analogue indium-111-DTPA-D-Phe-l-octreotide has recently been proposed for the imaging of CNS neoplasms expressing somatostatin receptors. While meningiomas are imaged with high sensitivity, neurinomas do not take up octreotide owing to the lack of somatostatin receptors. Neurofibromatosis is a relatively uncommon disorder in which meningiomas and neurinomas often occur in the same patient. Differential diagnosis between these two tumours by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging can be difficult. This study reports on1 11In-octreotide scintigraphy in four patients with neurofibromatosis.11In-octreotide scintigraphy was shown to be very helpful in the in vivo differential diagnosis: all four meningiomas showed intense tracer uptake, while all 15 neurinomas were negative (P<0.001 by Fisher's exact test). It may be concluded that scintigraphy with111In-octreotide is a useful diagnostic procedure in neurofibromatosis, complementing standard neuroradiological imaging procedures.

S-100 protein and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) have recently been proposed as serum markers for melanoma. In this study NSE and S-100 serum levels were assayed by commercial IRMA methods in 53 patients with melanoma. The overall prevalence of abnormal marker levels was similar for NSE (26%) and S-100 (30%). The 24 patients in stages I and II had uniformly normal S-100 levels, but abnormal NSE levels were observed in 3 out of the 12 patients in stage II (33%) and in 1 out of 12 in stage I. NSE appears thus to be the marker of choice in the early stages, where its increase points to disease progression. In patients in stages III and IV the prevalence of abnormal values was 34% for NSE and 55% for S-100 (p = < 0.05). In the latter group diagnostic sensitivity increased to 62% if isolated elevation of each marker was considered. In patients with advanced stage disease, both NSE and S-100 should be assayed.

The present study has been conducted to contribute, once and for all, filling the lack of structural information for the whole class of rare earth (RE) carbonates owning the tengerite-(Y) structure. A complete structural characterization, carried out by Rietveld refinement of X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) data, was comparatively performed for the first time on several hydrated RE carbonates, having the general chemical formula RE2(CO3)3.xH2O, RE = Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho and Er. All samples share the same space group and lattice parameters similar to tengerite-(Y); the structures are also closely related, consisting in all cases of a three-dimensional framework of nine-fold coordinated RE atom polyhedral, linked together by carbonates ions. In addition to relatively minor changes in fractional coordinates of atom sites and corresponding interatomic distances, the only perceivable difference lies in the lattice parameters affected by the ionic radius of RE3+. However, in the case of Er, which has the lowest cationic radius among the analyzed RE, the stabilization of tengerite structure is at its limit condition, because the carbonate groups are heavily distorted. Furthermore, FT-IR and Raman spectra confirm the main structural features obtained by Rietveld refinements. The observed morphology of the various samples is almost the same, being characterized by the presence of bidimensional rod-like particles grouped in agglomerates, typical of tengerite crystals, thus indicating that the crystallization mechanism occurring during the hydrothermal synthesis is the same, irrespective of the involved RE cation.