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The Late Cretaceous dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex was recently split into three species based on the premise that variation in the T. rex hypodigm is exceptional, indicating cryptic species and “robust” and “gracile” morphs. The morphs are based on proportional ratios throughout the skeleton. The species are claimed to be stratigraphically separate, with an early robust species followed by robust and gracile descendants. There are problems with the hypothesis: the taxon diagnoses are based on two features that overlap between the species; several skulls cannot be identified based on the diagnoses; proportional comparisons between Tyrannosaurus and other theropods are based on incomparable samples; the tooth data are problematic; the stratigraphic framework divides the Hell Creek Formation into thirds, without the stratigraphic position of each specimen, or independent age control showing the subdivisions are coeval over the entire geographic area; previous work found variation in T. rex, but it cannot be parsed into discrete categories. We tested for “gracile” and “robust” morphs by analyzing the femoral and tooth ratios that were published in the multiple species study using agglomerative hierarchical clustering. The results found that each set of ratios are explained by one cluster, showing that dimorphism is not supported. We tested for exceptional variation of the femoral ratio of Tyrannosaurus; we calculated the mean intraspecific robusticity for 112 species of living birds and 4 nonavian theropods. The results showed that the absolute variation in Tyrannosaurus is unexceptional and it does not indicate cryptic diversity. We conclude that “T. regina” and “T. imperator” are subjective junior synonyms of T. rex.

Unilateral coronal craniosynostosis (UCS) is a congenital disorder resulting from the premature suture fusion, leading to complex primary and compensatory morphologic changes in the shape of not only the calvarium and but also into the skull base. This deformity typically requires surgery to correct the shape of the skull and prevent neurologic sequelae, including increased intracranial pressure, sensory deficits, and cognitive impairment.The present multicenter study sought to reverse-engineer the bone dysmorphogenesis seen in non-syndromic UCS using a geometric morphometric approach. Computed tomography scans for 26 non-syndromic UCS patients were converted to three-dimensional mesh models. Two hundred thirty-six unique anatomical landmarks and semi-landmarked curves were then plotted on each model, creating wireframe representations of the Patients' skulls.Generalized Procrustes superimposition, Principal Component Analysis, and heatmaps identified significant superior displacement of the ipsilateral orbit ("harlequin" eye deformity), anterior displacement of the ear ipsilateral to the fused coronal suture, acute deviation of midline skull base structures ipsilateral to the fused coronal suture and flattening of the parietal bone and associated failure to expand superiorly.The described technique illustrates the impact of premature coronal suture fusion on the development of the entire skull and proposes how bone dysmorphology contributes to the Patients' neurologic sequelae. By bridging novel basic science methodologies with clinical research, the present study quantitatively describes craniofacial development and bone dysmorphogenesis.

Intraoperative evaluation is deeply changed using many new tools, both invasive and non-invasive. Peripheral oxygen saturation percentage (SpOIntraoperative evaluation of SpOWe analysed 93 consecutive patients (43 males and 40 females, aged 66.35 ± 9.79 years) that underwent peridiaphragmatic surgery. Forty patients (48.19%) presented complications after surgery. There was no statistically significant difference in age, duration of intervention and length of stay in ICU between complicated and non-complicated patients. As expected, patients with complications present an increased hospitalisation time compared to uncomplicated cases (14.69 ± 11.41 days vs 10.70 ± 6.28 days; p 0.05). ∆EtCO∆EtCO

A cylindrical hydrogel tube, completely submerged in water, hydrates by swelling and filling its internal cavity. When it comes back into contact with air, it dehydrates: the tube thus expels the solvent through the walls, shrinking. This dehydration process causes a depression in the tube cavity, which can lead to circumferential buckling. Here we study the occurrence of such buckling using a continuous model that combines nonlinear elasticity with Flory–Rehner theory, to take into account both the large deformations and the active behaviour of the hydrogel. In quasi-static approximation, we use the incremental deformation formalism, extended to the chemo-mechanical equations, to determine the threshold value of the enclosed volume at which buckling is triggered. This critical value is found to depend on the shell thickness, chemical potential and constitutive features. The results obtained are in good agreement with the results of the finite element simulations of the complete dynamic problem.

Environmental climate change has encouraged countries across the world to develop policies aimed to the reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The introduction of Zero-Emission Vehicles based on electrical powertrains, could reduce the emission of environmental pollutants, the noise levels and could increase the liveability of urban areas. Although in recent years research on batteries has brought several benefits to electric vehicle performance, key barriers to their adoption are still high cost, reduced autonomy, long charging times and the leak of a suitable network of charging stations. Substantial improvements in electric vehicles performance are expected with the development of new Li-ion batteries, thanks to some notable advantages over other types of batteries, such as: high energy density, high power density, long cycle life and long calendar life. This paper is aimed to present a reliability assessment procedure based on an ageing model able to estimate from datasheet information the lifetime of Lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, the residual capacity and reliability margins under different driving cycles, taking also into account the battery calendar ageing.

Introduction Geometric morphometrics (GM) is an advanced landmark-based quantitative method used to study biological shape and form. Historically, GM has been limited to non-biomedical fields such as comparative biology; however, this technique confers advantages over traditional cephalometric methods, warranting a review of current applications of GM to human craniofacial disorders. Methods The RISmed package was used to extract metadata associated with PubMed publications referencing GM analysis techniques in craniofacial and reconstructive surgery. PubMed search terms included "geometric AND morphometric AND craniofacial;" and "geometric AND morphometric AND reconstructive surgery." Duplicate search results were eliminated. Results Search yielded 139 studies between 2005 and 2020, of which 27 met inclusion criteria. Human craniofacial studies constituted 2% of all queried GM studies. Among these, cleft lip and palate were the most commonly studied craniofacial conditions (7 studies, 26%), followed by sagittal craniosynostosis (4 studies, 15%). Seventeen studies (63%) used GM to assess skeletal structures, seven studies (26%) examined both skeletal and soft tissues, and three studies (11%) analyzed soft tissues only. Eleven studies (40.1%) employed a GM approach to evaluate postoperative changes in craniofacial morphology. Two studies (7%) systematically compared GM analysis with conventional shape measurements. Conclusion The ability to study shape while controlling for variability in structure size and imaging technique make GM a promising tool for understanding growth patterns in complex craniofacial diseases. Furthermore, GM overcomes many limitations of traditional cephalometric techniques, and hence may claim an expanded role in the study of human craniofacial disorders in clinical and research settings.

BACKGROUND Geometric morphometric analysis with Procrustes superimposition is an advanced computational tool that can be used to quantify dynamic changes in complex three-dimensional structures. The present study couples high resolution CT imaging with a Geometric Morphometric approach in order to further understand the complex dysmorphology that occurs in unilateral coronal synostosis (UCS). METHODS Forty-one UCS patients and 41 age- and sex-matched controls received high-resolution CT imaging. Thirty-one anatomical landmarks were identified on each imaging set. A geometric morphometric workflow was used to perform a Procrustes superimposition to register landmarks into a common space. Procrustes-aligned landmarks were used to derive angle calculations, lengths, and other anatomical measurements. Three-dimensional coordinates were also used to perform a principal components analysis (PCA). RESULTS Unilateral coronal synostosis patients exhibited significant angular deviation at the levels of the inferior skull base, mid-posterior fossa, and vertex. Both left- and right-sided UCS patients showed increased lengthening in the transverse (left-right) dimension, exhibiting increased length between the left and right EAC (P = 0.047). Conversely, UCS patients revealed shortening in the midline AP dimension as evidenced by the decreased Nasal root-Lambda (P

TAVOLO TECNICO ITAE/FERCAM/SAPIO/ELECTROLUX

Nel presente rapporto è riportato un estratto del contributo ITAE nell'ambito del Contratto sottoscritto in data 05/05/2021. L'attività è stata complessivamente svolta attraverso supporto specialistico in presenza o da remoto (call conference, mail, telefono). I contenuti sono stati inquadrati in un'ottica di collaborazione FERCAM-ITAE incentrata sull'analisi di scenario rispetto all'impiego di veicoli a zero emissioni e del vettore idrogeno in ambito logistica sostenibile. L'Attività A L'attività ha visto l'esplorazione delle possibilità tecnologiche nella realizzazione di veicoli BEV e FCHEV per il trasporto merci. Sono state analizzate, in particolare, le esigenze distributive collegate alla logistica dell'ultimo miglio in contesti territoriali specifici. L'offerta del mercato dei veicoli commerciali non rende attualmente disponibili mezzi con caratteristiche utili per FERCAM, si è quindi proceduto ad una progettazione preliminare necessaria per identificare i sottosistemi costituenti i sistemi di trazione idonei agli scenari operativi proposti. L'ITAE, anche attraverso indicazioni pervenute da FERCAM, ha contattato produttori, fornitori di tecnologia e system integrators, rappresentando, attraverso un'analisi tecnico economica, le opzioni disponibili. Il caso studio analizzato, su richiesta del Committente, è quello di Roma. Sono stati preliminarmente acquisiti i dati di riferimento (percorsi, peso trasportato, numero di consegne, ...) che hanno rappresentato gli input per le successive elaborazioni. I risultati sono stati periodicamente trasmessi a FERCAM. L'ITAE ha partecipato a differenti meeting sia con aziende fornitrici di Kit elettrici che con integratori di sistema con expertise focalizzato sull'impiego di celle a combustibile in sinergia con il sistema di trazione elettrico (FRIEM, GECO, DOLOMITECH, QUANTRON, FLAG). È stato valutato sia lo sviluppo di veicoli con l'impiego di un telaio IVECO già identificato da FERCAM che la realizzazione di mezzi ex-novo. La fase di elaborazione e progettazione ha visto la sottoscrizione, da parte ITAE, di diversi NDA con le aziende potenziali fornitrici di Fuel Cell Systems (PLUG POWER, NUVERA, BALLARD) per l'elaborazione di soluzioni ibride FCHEV. Lo svolgimento delle attività è stato caratterizzato da un clima di collaborazione che ha consentito di mettere a fuoco soluzioni condivise anche con un perimetro tecnico non sempre definito. Nel corso del tempo sono stati valutati scenari progettuali per veicoli con differente portata ipotizzando anche azioni di retrofit su mezzi a propulsione endotermica. L'attività principale è stata indirizzata allo sviluppo di soluzioni con portata pari a 7,2t ma sono state elaborate analisi anche per veicoli da 6,5t, 10-12t e 44t, in quest'ultimo caso inerenti sia a possibili attività per second life che attraverso call conference con potenziali fornitori (HYZONE, HYUNDAI). Il 22 Giugno 2021 è stato effettuato un sopralluogo tecnico presso il sito identificato da GECO per l'allestimento dei veicoli (c/o JASIRA, Piano Tavola, Catania). Il 9 Settembre 2021 l'ITAE ha partecipato ad un incontro tecnico e successivo sopralluogo presso la sede QUANTRON (Augsburg, Germania). Il 2-3 Ottobre i ricercatori ITAE hanno presenziato all'evento Rom-E a Roma presso lo stand FERCAM. Dal 4 al 12 Ottobre sono stati effettuati a Roma, test su strada su un veicolo Demo Quantron, concordando le modalità ed il protocollo con FERCAM. Nei primi 5 giorni c'è stata la supervisione ITAE in presenza. A Novembre 2021 è stata effettuata un'analisi sullo sviluppo di una cargo-bike ad idrogeno. L'Attività B ha avuto come obiettivo l'analisi comparativa degli impatti ambientali di un veicolo per la distribuzione delle merci nell'ambito dell'ultimo miglio. Il primo capitolo descrive la metodologia LCA, mentre il secondo riporta alcune considerazioni sull'applicazione della LCA al settore automotive. Il terzo capitolo mostra l'analisi della letteratura scientifica più recente relativamente all'applicazione della metodologia LCA ai veicoli FCEV. Infine, l'ultima parte riporta un'analisi di impatto ambientale espresso in termini di GWP per un veicolo Iveco Daily nell'ipotesi che lo stesso sia dotato di diversi sistemi di propulsione (motore a combustione interna diesel, BEV e FCHEV) e nell'ipotesi che il veicolo venga realizzato come retrofit di un veicolo esistente con modifica da propulsione diesel a propulsione elettrica (sia BRV che FCHEV). In assenza di dati primari, il confronto è stato effettuato utilizzando dati secondari di letteratura e utilizzando un approccio LCA-inspired. L'Attività C ha previsto l'identificazione e la valutazione delle opportunità di finanziamento in ambito regionale, nazionale e comunitario sulle tematiche oggetto di contratto (Manifestazione d'interesse nel settore Idrogeno - Regione Sicilia, CEF Transport 2021, Mission Innovation Idrogeno, ...). L'ITAE ha inoltre partecipato ad iniziative di diretto interesse FERCAM (TreLab, Cybermate, Progetto Real Deal, Progetto Life, Progetto Smart Hy Aware, Progetto Roma - Sapio, Manifestazione di interesse Lazio Innova). In relazione, in particolare, al progetto Mission Innovation, l'ITAE, nell'ambito delle attività di propria competenza, ha identificato di interesse la realizzazione di un veicolo FCHEV prototipale con caratteristiche tecniche conformi alla missione d'uso analizzata per la distribuzione dell'ultimo miglio su Roma. La fase di test consentirà a FERCAM di ottenere informazioni utili ad un'analisi costi-benefici sulla tecnologia.

Flow boiling heat transfer, pressure drop and dry-out vapor quality of low-GWP non-azeotropic mixture R454C are experimentally evaluated. All tests are carried out in a smooth, horizontal, stainless-steel tube having an internal diameter of 6.0 mm, heated by DC current by means of Joule effect. The influence of the operating parameters in terms of mass flux, heat flux and saturation pressure is investigated and discussed. Both mass velocity and heat flux have a positive effect on the flow boiling heat transfer coefficient, whereas the saturation pressure negatively affect the boiling performance. Frictional pressure gradients are instead seen to increase with increasing mass velocity and reducing saturation pressure, while the onset of dry-out is anticipated for higher heat and mass fluxes and is unaffected by the variation of the bubble temperature. The assessment of predictive methods is carried-out for experimental data not belonging to stratified flow and post-dry-out heat transfer, that could not be predicted by conventional flow pattern maps. Finally, some tested flow boiling heat transfer coefficient correlations provide better results when modifying their nucleate boiling contribution by taking into account the negative effect of the temperature glide during evaporation.

Generally, the species is considered to be the only naturally occurring taxon. However, species recognized and defined using different species delimitation criteria cannot readily be compared, impacting studies of biodiversity through Deep Time. This comparability issue is particularly marked when comparing extant with extinct species because the only available data for species delimitation in fossils are derived from their preserved morphology, which is generally restricted to osteology in vertebrates. Here, we quantify intraspecific, intrageneric, and intergeneric osteological variability in extant species of lacertid lizards using pairwise dissimilarity scores based on a data set of 253 discrete osteological characters for 99 specimens referred to 24 species. Variability is always significantly lower intraspecifically than between individuals belonging to distinct species of a single genus, which is in turn significantly lower than intergeneric variability. Average values of intraspecific variability and associated standard deviations are consistent (with few exceptions), with an overall average within a species of 0.208 changes per character scored. Application of the same methods to six extinct lacertid species (represented by 40 fossil specimens) revealed that intraspecific osteological variability is inconsistent, which can at least in part be attributed to different researchers having unequal expectations of the skeletal dissimilarity within species units. Such a divergent interpretation of intraspecific and interspecific variability among extant and extinct species reinforces the incomparability of the species unit. Lacertidae is an example where extant species recognized and defined based on a number of delimitation criteria show comparable and consistent intraspecific osteological variability. Here, as well as in equivalent cases, application of those skeletal dissimilarity values to paleontological species delimitation potentially provides a way to ameliorate inconsistencies created by the use of morphology to define species. [Intraspecific variation; Lacertidae; morphological disparity; osteology; species delimitation; taxonomic bias.]

Geometric morphometric analysis with Procrustes superimposition is a commonly used method to characterize and study complex dysmorphology. The present study employs an advanced Procrustes-based approach to studying craniofacial dysmorphology in unilateral coronal synostosis and quantitatively describe bony patterns in this disorder, in order to better understand the associated fronto-orbital and sphenotemporal deformities.Forty-one unilateral coronal synostosis (UCS) patients and 41 age- and sex-matched controls underwent high-resolution computed tomography imaging. Thirty-one anatomical landmarks were labeled on each imaging set. Landmarks were used to calculate angle, lengths, and define fronto-orbital and sphenotemporal anatomical curves. A validated geometric morphometric workflow was used to perform a Procrustes superimposition to register landmarks into a common space and perform a principal components analysis.Supraorbital bar curvature was significantly increased ipsilateral to the fused suture and decreased contralateral, P 0.0001 for both sides. The sagittal sphenotemporal curve also showed ipsilateral increase in curvature (P 0.0001) but there was no effect on the contralateral side (P 0.05).Geometric morphometric analysis revealed significant dysmorphology between UCS patients and controls. These results suggest bilateral changes in fronto-orbital curvature and ipsilateral changes in sagittal sphenotemporal curvature, which may be useful in further characterizing the dynamic craniofacial changes in UCS.

This paper deals with the issue of the production of electricity required for an electric delivery van to carry out its daily mission. In particular, the technical solutions adopted for the generation and management of energy from renewable energy sources will be illustrated. Subsequently a vehicle routing problem with time windows is formulated in order to optimize the freight distribution at urban level completing the exploration of two aspects, infrastructures and management of the service, considered fundamental for dealing with the distribution of freight in a system scenario. The article describes a case study for the delivery of freight within the last mile in which the installation of renewable energy production plants is proposed in the same place where the urban distribution center has been planned. The area dedicated to freight handling is thus proposed in the work as an energy platform as well as logistics. The optimization of a freight delivery service is performed in order to reduce the energy used by the vehicle in its daily travels and some aspects related to the governance (i.e. time windows allowed for the delivery/pick-up operations) are included in the problem constraints. A test application, considering a set of 84 retailers, has been carried out as case study in the Capo d'Orlando municipality (Sicily, Italy).

A change in the logistics sector in terms of environmental sustainability is necessary to support the achievement of the social challenges associated with freight transport. Unfortunately, the policy responses to solving congestion and emissions issues are mainly dedicated to the movement of people. The most valued opportunities to reduce the negative effects of freight delivery (the goal of EU policy is CO2 free urban logistics by 2030) regards both the use of electric vehicles to perform the distribution and the introduction of distribution centres that encourage the use of light commercial vehicles. However, the combination of zero emission vehicles in logistic and transportation activities requires some additional challenges from the organizational and operational point of view. In order to avoid the delocalization of polluting emissions it is necessary that the production of electricity related to the new needs comes from renewable sources preferably distributed throughout the territory. This paper explores the integration of electric vehicles in logistics operations executed through light commercial vehicles, taking into consideration, during the design phase of a new concept delivery van, the technical connections with the production systems and its possible applications also in areas other than urban. The results of the case study presented encourage the development of a type of vehicle with features not yet covered by the market and which are of particular relevance for sustainable logistics applied to small towns or small islands, which are widespread in Italy.

A comprehensive review of two-phase flow characteristics, boiling heat transfer and condensation outside and inside tubes of propane (R290) is presented in this paper. The first section focuses on the global heat transfer performances in heat exchangers, with a collection of 11 works dealing with boiling and condensation of propane in fin and tubes, shell and tubes, plate heat exchangers and complex geometries. The second section reviews local analyses on fluid flow (8 works) and heat transfer characteristics of propane during flow boiling (23 works), pool boiling (10 works), condensation inside (13 works) and outside (2 works) single and multi-channel geometries. The critical analysis of the collected papers has the objective to provide useful information regarding the components performance for those involved in the assembly of refrigeration plants, and also to offer a critical summary on local heat transfer and fluid flow behavior of propane, particularly useful during the processes of heat exchangers design and manufacturing.

CONTRATTO FERCAM Attività A - Progettazione e realizzazione di veicoli a zero emissioni Selezione delle tecnologie e dei fornitori, aggiornamento Agosto 2021

Sarà l'idrogeno a contribuire in modo sostanziale alla decarbonizzazione del trasporto e della logistica? L'obiettivo della totale eliminazione dei gas serra, fissato dall'Unione Europea entro l'anno 2050 sembra un obiettivo lontano ma non per questo facile da raggiungere. Tra le diverse fonti di energia ecologiche per i mezzi di trasporto, l'idrogeno sembra a tutti gli effetti una via promettente.

I veicoli commerciali elettrici plug-in e quelli alimentati da fuel cell a idrogeno sono ormai realtà. Alcune versioni dei primi sono già disponibili sul mercato, gli altri sono giunti alle fasi avanzate di sviluppo e ci si aspetta saranno acquistabili nel prossimo futuro. Ma come funzionano questi motori e quali sono le differenze fra le performance? Esiste la possibilità di combinare le due in un ibrido multi-performante e a impatto zero? Questi sono i temi che andremo ad affrontare nel tavolo tecnico dedicato alle trazioni alternative.

Progettazione e realizzazione di veicoli a zero emissioni Selezione delle tecnologie e dei fornitori, aggiornamento Luglio 2021

CONTRATTO FERCAM Attività A - Progettazione e realizzazione di veicoli a zero emissioni Selezione delle tecnologie e dei fornitori, aggiornamento Ottobre 2021

Geometric morphometric analysis with Procrustes superimposition is an advanced computational tool that can be used to quantify dynamic changes in complex three-dimensional structures. The present study couples high resolution CT imaging with a Geometric Morphometric approach in order to further understand the complex dysmorphology that occurs in unilateral coronal synostosis (UCS).Forty-one UCS patients and 41 age- and sex-matched controls received high-resolution CT imaging. Thirty-one anatomical landmarks were identified on each imaging set. A geometric morphometric workflow was used to perform a Procrustes superimposition to register landmarks into a common space. Procrustes-aligned landmarks were used to derive angle calculations, lengths, and other anatomical measurements. Three-dimensional coordinates were also used to perform a principal components analysis (PCA).Unilateral coronal synostosis patients exhibited significant angular deviation at the levels of the inferior skull base, mid-posterior fossa, and vertex. Both left- and right-sided UCS patients showed increased lengthening in the transverse (left-right) dimension, exhibiting increased length between the left and right EAC (P = 0.047). Conversely, UCS patients revealed shortening in the midline AP dimension as evidenced by the decreased Nasal root-Lambda (P 0.0001) and Nasal root-superior dorsum sellae (P = 0.01) distances compared with controls. PCA revealed that 25.26% of variation in shape among the patients sampled to be driven by flattening of the skull and that18.93% of variation was driven by right-sided deformity and mediolateral expansion.Significant dysmorphology between UCS patients and controls was quantified using Geometric Morphometric approach, which may be useful in further characterizing the dynamic craniofacial changes in UCS.

The development of Lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles have recently become the subject of large research efforts due to some remarkable advantages over other kinds of batteries, such as: high energy density, high power density, long cycle life and long calendar life. This paper is aimed to develop an ageing model suitable to estimate the battery lifetime, the residual capacity and reliability margins under different driving cycles, taking also into account the battery calendar ageing.

Sthenurine kangaroos, extinct “giant kangaroos” known predominantly from the Plio-Pleistocene, have been proposed to have used bipedal striding as a mode of locomotion, based on the morphology of their hind limbs. However, sthenurine forelimb morphology has not been considered in this context, and has important bearing as to whether these kangaroos employed quadrupedal or pentapedal locomotion as a slow gait, as in extant kangaroos. Study of the correlation of morphology of the proximal humerus in a broad range of therian mammals shows that humeral morphology is indicative of the degree of weight-bearing on the forelimbs during locomotion, with terrestrial species being distinctly different from arboreal ones. Extant kangaroos have a proximal humeral morphology similar to extant scansorial (semi-arboreal) mammals, but sthenurine humeri resemble those of suspensory arboreal taxa, which rarely bear weight on their forelimbs, supporting the hypothesis that they used bipedal striding rather than quadrupedal locomotion at slow gaits. The humeral morphology of the enigmatic extinct “giant wallaby,” Protemnodon, may be indicative of a greater extent of quadrupedal locomotion than in extant kangaroos.

The involvement of mineralized tissues in acid–base homeostasis was likely important in the evolution of terrestrial vertebrates. Extant reptiles encounter hypercapnia when submerged in water, but early tetrapods may have experienced hypercapnia on land due to their inefficient mode of lung ventilation (likely buccal pumping, as in extant amphibians). Extant amphibians rely on cutaneous carbon dioxide elimination on land, but early tetrapods were considerably larger forms, with an unfavourable surface area to volume ratio for such activity, and evidence of a thick integument. Consequently, they would have been at risk of acidosis on land, while many of them retained internal gills and would not have had a problem eliminating carbon dioxide in water. In extant tetrapods, dermal bone can function to buffer the blood during acidosis by releasing calcium and magnesium carbonates. This review explores the possible mechanisms of acid–base regulation in tetrapod evolution, focusing on heavily armoured, basal tetrapods of the Permo-Carboniferous, especially the physiological challenges associated with the transition to air-breathing, body size and the adoption of active lifestyles. We also consider the possible functions of dermal armour in later tetrapods, such as Triassic archosaurs, inferring palaeophysiology from both fossil record evidence and phylogenetic patterns, and propose a new hypothesis relating the archosaurian origins of the four-chambered heart and high systemic blood pressures to the perfusion of the osteoderms.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Vertebrate palaeophysiology’.

This paper carries out an experimental investigation on R455A, a low GWP (148) non azeotropic mixture, to determine its performance in terms of flow boiling heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in a smooth circular horizontal stainless-steel tube, with an internal diameter of 6 mm. The effect of the operating parameters, such as mass flux (from 300 to 500 kg‧m−2‧s−1), bubble saturation temperature (from 10 to 40 °C), heat flux (from 5 to 40 kW‧m−2) and vapor quality (between 0 and 1) is analyzed. Results show an increase of the heat transfer coefficient with mass and heat flux, while it decreases with saturation temperature. On the other hand, pressure drop increases with mass flux, and decreases with bubble saturation temperature. An assessment of several predictive methods from literature is finally conducted. Two-phase heat transfer methods based on an exclusive convective contribution can predict quite well the experimental results, while all other methods improve their statistics once a glide-related modification on the nucleate boiling contribution is assumed. The fictional pressure gradient results are well fitted with the separated flow model of Muller Steinhagen and Heck and with the Cicchitti two-phase viscosity expression considering a homogeneous flow approach.

Due to the increasing concern about the global warming caused by the use of conventional refrigerants, new HFC/HFO blends are currently proposed to replace high-GWP substances. Most of them, however, present a considerable temperature glide that may negatively affect the nucleate boiling contribution to the heat transfer during evaporation. In this paper, flow boiling data of the new non-azeotropic mixtures R452A and R448A (carrying a high temperature glide of almost 5 °C) and of the conventional quasi-azeotropic blend R404A are provided in a horizontal stainless-steel tube having an internal diameter of 6.0 mm. For all the investigated fluids, the operating conditions explore mass fluxes from 150 to 600 kg/m2s, saturation temperatures from 25 to 55 °C and imposed heat fluxes from 10 to 40 kW/m2, in the whole range of vapor qualities. The nucleative boiling contribution is then isolated from the overall heat transfer coefficient data at disposal and the effect of the heat flux is discussed for both types of blends. Finally, the experimental values and trends are compared to different nucleate boiling correlations taken from literature and conceived for pure fluids, by testing some correction factors explicitly developed for high temperature glide substances.

With the aim to follow the National and European regulations related to the transport field numerous initiatives have given rise to studies and analyses of low/zero environmental impact powertrain. Many investments have been made in the electric vehicles (BEVs-Batteries Electric Vehicles) field although these still present limits related to low range of autonomy and long charging times. The minibus realized by CNR ITAE within the "i-NEXT" project (funded by Italian Ministry of Educational, University and Research) has a hybrid electric powertrain based on fuel cell (FC) technology and lithium batteries (FCHEV - Fuel Cell Hybrid Electric Vehicle). The present work reports the tests drive in which different conditions of the operating range have been verified. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The growing number of Electric Vehicles in circulation, will soon pose the problem of how to manage spent batteries which, having exceeded their useful lifetime, no longer meet the specifications for usage in EV. A viable possibility is their reuse in applications less demanding than EV. This work is aimed to develop an ageing model able to predict the residual lifespan of EV Li-ion batteries in second life applications dealing with stationary energy storage systems.

Gradual electrification is widely considered as a feasible strategy for reducing the oil dependency and CO2 emissions of road transportation. In chase of these aims increasing importance has been attributed to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Although the European Commission has strongly supported sustainable mobility initiatives in recent years, with the purpose of decarbonizing road transport and mitigating urban air pollution, results are below expectations. Among the initiatives that can be implemented the most important is certainly the use of electric vehicles on a large scale but it will be necessary, in parallel, to plan an appropriate system of infrastructures that will be able to support the expansion. In this paper a methodology to provide optimal locations of electric vehicle infrastructures in a highway network is proposed. The procedure can also be used to support the implementation of the DAFI (Directive on the Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructure). The goal is to estimate the basic number of charging stations and determine their correct allocation on the road network by analyzing the supply and demand and considering the psychological component of the driver. In Part 1, the subject of this research article, a model is presented to detect how many charging infrastructures are required within the service areas and to identify their location. After the description of the solution algorithm, a test application is performed in order to assess model and technique. With the aim of analysing a high-level system, the model will be used, in Part 2 of the work, to calculate and distribute the charging point on the Italian case study.