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Giuseppe Caruso,1 Eleonora Marcoccia,1,2 Roberto Brunelli,1 Miriam Candelieri,1 Michele Carlo Schiavi,1 Ilaria Zannini,1 Seila Perrone,1 Oriana Capri,1 Ludovico Muzii,1 Giuseppina Perrone,1 Paola Galoppi1 1Department of Maternal and Child Health and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Umberto I Hospital, Rome, Italy; 2Department of Experimental Medicine, Sapienza University of Rome, Umberto I Hospital, Rome, ItalyCorrespondence: Giuseppe CarusoDepartment of Maternal and Child Health and Urological Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Umberto I Hospital, Viale del Policlinico, 155, Rome, 00161, ItalyTel +39064463069; +390649972568Email g.caruso@uniroma1.itIntroduction: The ever-increasing wave of immigration in Italy has posed demanding challenges in the management of the new multiethnic obstetric population. The aim of this study was to compare pregnancy and perinatal outcomes between immigrants and the native population in an Italian public hospital.Materials and Methods: Singleton pregnant women (≥ 24 weeks of gestation) who delivered during a 3-year period in an Italian free care hospital were included. Long-term (≥ 2 years of residence) immigrant patients were divided into 4 groups according to their ethnic origin: Europeans, Asians, Latin Americans, and Africans. Perinatal indicators of obstetric outcomes were collected and compared between immigrants and Italians.Results: Of the 3556 patients included, 1092 were immigrants and 2464 Italians. The immigrant cohort experienced a higher rate of macrosomia (1.8% vs 0.6%; p = 0.001), very low birth weight (1.3% vs 0.6%; p = 0.048), very early preterm delivery (1.4% vs 0.4%; p = 0.048), and gestational diabetes mellitus (1.8% vs 0.5%; p = 003) compared with the native population. The overall rate of cesarean sections was greater among Italians (56% vs 45.8%; p < 0.001). Among ethnic groups, Europeans and Latin Americans reported a higher rate of preterm delivery (20.2% and 19%, respectively; p < 0.001). Latin Americans carried also a greater risk of fetal macrosomia (3.6%; p < 0.008), while the rate of very low birth weight was higher among Europeans and Africans (2% and 1.8%, respectively; p < 0.04).Conclusion: Obstetricians should pay special attention to the potential disparities in pregnancy outcomes between immigrants and the native population. Future efforts should focus on reducing preterm delivery and glucose dysmetabolism among pregnant immigrants.Keywords: ethnic disparities, immigration, maternal outcomes, neonatal outcomes, pregnancy

Abstract Anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge generally produces an amount of biogas that is not enough to cover the energy requirements of the digester. One possibility to increase the biogas production is to co-digest, together with sewage sludge, other substrates, for istance the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. Alternatively, a preliminary step of dark co-fermentation of those mixed substrates can be applied. In this work, such possible cases are compared by Life Cycle Assessment approach. The study was carried out with reference to the Viareggio wastewater treatment plant, Italy. Anaerobic co-digestion of sewage sludge and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste emerges as the best treatment option in terms of environmental impacts. However, also dark co-fermentation presents, albeit less, benefits and a reduction in environmental burdens. The robustness of the results is explored by the sensitivity analysis with respect to the effective thermal energy use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic Digestion of biodegradable substrates could be considered a promising process in terms of both bio-fuels and bio-products production. In this respect, biohydrogen production during the acidogenic phase and polyhydroxyalkanoate generation through the metabolites circulation, can be considered the new borders of process optimization. The results of the assessment presented in this work shows that anaerobic co-digestion of sludge and food waste is an effective process to achieve energy self-sufficiency of wastewater treatment plants. Through batch tests it was possible to estimate the production of hydrogen and methane in the specific case of sludge and food waste and calculate the primary energy produced by different users of biogas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the textile industry, the drying process is a time consuming and energy expensive operation that influences strongly the cost of the textile finishing operations. For this reason, the study of innovative techniques plays a key role to decrease the energy consumption, the costs and the environmental impact. After a first mechanical process, the moisture is removed from yarn fibers by a thermal convection dryer that delivers hot air through the material. In this study, the drying process of cotton yarn bobbins is experimentally analyzed. With this aim, an experimental test rig was developed based on the geometry of industrial dryers. The influence of the drying air path and the air working conditions was assessed by performing tests with different configurations, temperatures and pressures. The results were analyzed in terms of drying time and energy consumption as the optimum drying condition is a trade-off between these parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In natural gas vehicle refueling stations, the reciprocating compressor is the key element in defining both the refueling process efficiency and the operating costs of the whole station. Great attention is therefore devoted at increasing both the performance and reliability of the machine. The valve-retainer is a component that plays a key role in determining the compressor performance, by introducing significant pressure losses, which affect the suction and discharge phases. However, the valve-retainer is essential for the proper orientation of the valve during the compressor operation and guarantees a simple and reliable design of the machine. Nevertheless, present design guidelines for the valve-retainer are focused mainly on reliability and maintenance criteria, with scarce regard to the fluid-dynamics behavior of this component. In order to assess the influence of the valve-retainer on the performance of a reciprocating compressor for refueling natural gas powered vehicles, attention is given in this study to the retainer orientation that determines the flow path of the process gas inside the compressor plenums. No previous work was found dealing with the assessment of the influence of the valve-retainer geometric features on the fluid-dynamic behavior of the plenum. The present analysis was carried out by taking advantage of a hybrid time-frequency domain numerical model, able to provide a significant increase of the accuracy level and reduced computational costs. The model was also integrated with FEM acoustic and CFD steady-state simulations to characterize the acoustic response of the plenum and the pressure losses, respectively. As a case study, a double acting compressor with two different orientations of the valve-retainer was analyzed by simulating the interaction between the compressor and its plenums. The compressor performance was evaluated in terms of indicated power, specific power, suction and discharge mass flow profiles and pressure oscillations inside the compressor plenums. The robustness and accuracy of the approach allowed one to assess that the influence of the valve-retainer orientation on the compressor performance is indeed negligible. It was observed that a 6% variation of the pressure loss across the plenum between the two configurations led to an absorbed power variation lower than 0.2% and a variation of compressed gas mass lower than 1%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Axial piston compressors are commonly equipped with rotating disk plates that make the pistons following a sinusoidal displacement. The variation of the plate angle leads to stroke increments without changing the displacement profile. The axial piston architecture allows one to make piston displacement profiles that are different from a sinusoidal one by using rotating disk with a shaped circumferential profile. In this work, a detailed analysis on the thermodynamic cycle of compressors with different disk geometries was carried out.A lumped parameter numerical model of a compressor for refrigeration application was developed. The compressor performance (i.e. indicated power, compressed mass of gas and specific power) was estimated by imposing piston displacement profiles that are different from the sinusoidal one. The influence on the cycle COP in which the compressor runs was evaluated for each analysis. For each profile, the study of the forces acting on the rotating plate was also investigated. A sensitivity analysis allowed the definition of a profile design that guarantees the optimization of both the thermodynamic cycle and the mechanical stresses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heat pumps are becoming more and more applied for heating, due to their possibility of working as cooling systems in the summer period. However, up to now, recovery of expansion work in small system has not been considered as a viable solution, because of the limited amount of recoverable energy and of difficulties in designing and operating a two-phase flow expander. The idea here presented is to investigate the application of a radial piston machine, adapted from oleodynamic motor designs, as an expander that will be coupled with the compressor motor shaft; the consequent power reduction goes directly to COP improvement. First, heat pumps working conditions (pressures, mass and volume flows) are defined, and the possible power recovery is calculated. Then, a model for the performance calculation of the radial piston motors used as expander is presented; the model considers the kinematics of the mechanical system and uses real fluid properties. The results indicate that such a machine could be developed from existing units with limited modifications, encourage to develop a test rig, and to run preliminary experimental work in order to measure the real performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technologies currently in use for the power production in the geothermal field are sometimes affected by two crucial problems: the environmental impact and the drilling costs. The first issue is related to the techniques adopted to increase the heat exchange (as artificial subsoil fracturing) or to the use of aquifers which contain pollutants that are not properly disposed or confined. The drilling costs are high because two wells are generally necessary to operate properly the power plant. An interesting solution could be the adoption of a double-pipe heat exchanger that consists in two concentric pipes placed in a single well. This setup allows the operation of the plant in a closed loop configuration with no mass exchange between the subsoil and the surface. A coupled approach based on a 1D model for the pipe and a 2D axisymmetric model for the surrounding rocks was developed in this study to investigate the actual capability of a double-pipe system in different operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay explains the process of restoration employed in the cleaning of The Carrying of the Body of Christ of 1532, at the Museo di Casa Vasari. Careful documentation is provided not only on the physical process of the restoration of the painting, but also on the stylistic contributions that Vasari imprints in the early stage of his artistic career. With the employment of reflectographic diagnostics highlight, new discovery and observations were noted in the manner in which Vasari approaches the application of painting and compositional design. Traces of a preliminary drawing were discovered under the painting. This process of composing a painting would become an indispensable technique in Vasari's artistic production, as discovered in the restoration of the Wedding of Ester and Ahasverus of 1548 at the State Museum of Medieval and Modern Art (Museo Statale d'Arte Medioevale e Moderna) of Arezzo. The removal of heavy layers and stratified coats of paint, which made the pictorial surface dull, unveiled a bright and colourful palette. This rich pictorial surface reveals Giorgio Vasari's assimilation of artistic manifestations of Cinquecento art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]