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Charcoal-based products are widely spread and appreciated as fuel for grilling food. However, during their use, they release high emissions that pose significant environmental issues and health risks. Charcoal grilling emissions contain a wide range of pollutants including CO, CO2, NOx, PM, PAHs, VOCs, and trace metals. The emission of these pollutants contributes to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Factors such as charcoal type and qualitative characteristics, combustion temperature, and the presence of food influence the emission released. Compared to domestic emissions, charcoal grilling restaurants can be a major source of air pollutants affecting both indoor and outdoor air quality. The deterioration of air quality determines health repercussions. This study aimed to review the existing scientific literature on the environmental and health implications of charcoal-based products used in domestic and restaurant settings. The association between charcoal grilling emissions, respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and the increased risk of developing carcinogenic conditions was evaluated. Workers in restaurant settings, exposed to cooking fumes for several hours, are particularly vulnerable to these health risks, but even short exposure can lead to health problems. Mitigation strategies involve different approaches, including the use of high-quality charcoal, implementing a certification system to ensure high-quality tested products, using grilling equipment designed to reduce emissions, ensuring proper ventilation, using abatement systems, and promoting responsible and sustainable grilling practices. Implementing these strategies guarantees more eco-friendly and safer grilling conditions while effectively reducing the adverse impacts of charcoal combustion on the environment and human health.

Salvage logging operations often occur after large disturbances and usually leave behind a substantial quantity of residues, which is fundamental for maintaining soil fertility and facilitating ecosystem dynamics. This study aims to estimate the amount of logging residues following salvage operations categorized by two wood harvesting systems: Cut-To-Length (CTL) and Full-Tree System (FT). Logging residues in the harvested areas were sampled using linear transects and the data collected were divided into classes based on diameter. The quantity of residues was estimated using the Brown method for Fine Wood Debris (FWD) and the Van Wagner method for Coarse Wood Debris (CWD). Furthermore, the carbon and nutrient content associated with logging residues were also determined, considering their interaction with the soil organic layer. Overall, a higher quantity of FWD was detected in the sites cleared with the FT system and a higher quantity of CWD in the sites logged with the CTL system. Differences could be observed for all three years and systems considered, but only the third year reported statistically significant results (p

In recent years, significant changes have occurred in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC) management, where docetaxel and new androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPI) have been shown to improve overall survival (OS) compared to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). Recent data could once again radically change mHSPC treatment. PEACE-1 and ARASENS trials demonstrated a survival benefit of the addition of ARPI to docetaxel and ADT combination (triplet therapy), compared to docetaxel and ADT. With multiple options to choose from, it is crucial to identify the patients who would benefit most from triplet therapy. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the activity of the triplet therapy versus docetaxel plus ADT in mHSPC. A systematic review of PubMed/Medline, Embase, and the proceedings of major international meetings was performed. Five RCTs fulfilled the inclusion criteria. PEACE-1 and ARASENS studies reported disease-free survival (DFS) and OS. Post hoc analysis of three other trials evaluated the combination of ARPI, docetaxel and ADT. Globally, 2538 patients were included (1270 triplet therapy; 1268 docetaxel + ADT). Triplet therapy was associated with improved OS (hazard ratio (HR) 0.74; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.66–0.83, p < 0.00001). A statistically significant benefit was shown in high-volume mHSPC patients (HR 0.76; 95% CI 0.59–0.97, p = 0.03) and in patients with de novo metastatic disease (HR 0.73; 95% CI, 0.64–0.82, p < 0.00001). The addition of ARPI to standard therapy was associated with DFS improvement (HR 0.41; 95% CI, 0.35–0.49, p < 0.00001). This metanalysis shows a significant OS benefit from concomitant administration of ARPI, docetaxel and ADT in high volume and de novo mHSPC.

Here the authors analyze material properties and aging of active phase-separated condensates by Differential Dynamic Microscopy. Arrested states are promoted by structured RNA. Low-complexity domains and biochemical reaction keep the droplets fluid-like.

The global charcoal trade is steadily growing, with high-income countries importing significant quantities of this material from regions where its production is often associated with severe environmental issues, including forest overexploitation, illegal logging, and environmental pollution. Promoting local charcoal production in high-income countries is crucial to addressing these challenges. In this study, we have chosen to focus on the European context, specifically emphasizing Italy as a case study. Our study aimed to comprehensively compare five distinct charcoal production systems, including both traditional and modern solutions, with a specific focus on evaluating the quality of the resulting charcoal. Additionally, improvements were evaluated to enhance production efficiency. Traditional systems cannot satisfy production requests, resulting in inefficiencies in manpower, costs, times, and yield. Conversely, recent innovations consider mobile and stationary kiln prototypes. Mobile kilns offer flexibility and cost savings but require operator expertise, limit automation, and have long cycles. In contrast, stationary systems operate continuously, increasing productivity and efficiency, despite higher investment costs. Notably, charcoal quality showed minimal differences. These findings highlighted the potential of new technologies to enhance efficiency, reduce cost and environmental impact, and promote sustainable charcoal production.

Skyline tensile forces have been shown to frequently exceed the recommended safety limits during ordinary cable logging operations. Several models for skyline engineering analyses have been proposed. Although skyline tensile forces assume a dynamic behaviour, practical solutions are based on a static approach without consideration of the dynamic nature of the cable systems. The aim of this study was to compare field data of skyline tensile forces with the static calculations derived by dedicated available software such as SkylineXL. To overcome the limitation of static calculation, this work also aimed to simulate the actual response of the tensile fluctuations measured in the real environment by mean of a finite element model (FEM). Field observations of skyline tensile forces included 103 work cycles, recorded over four different cable lines in standing skyline configuration. Payload estimations, carriages positions, and time study of the logging operations were also collected in the field. The ground profiles and the cable line geometries were analysed using digital elevation models. The field data were then used to simulate the work cycles in SkylineXL. The dynamic response of six fully-suspended loads in a single-span cable line was also simulated by a dedicated FEM built through ANSYS ®. The observed data and the software calculations were then compared. SkylineXL resulted particularly reliable in the prediction of the actual tensile forces, with RMSE ranging between 7.5 and 13.5 KN, linked to an average CV(RMSE) of 7.24%. The reliability in predicting the peak tensile forces was lower, reporting CV(RMSE) of 10.12%, but still not likely resulting in a safety or performance problem. If properly set-up and used, thus, SkylineXL could be considered appropriate for operational and practical purposes. This work, however, showed that finite element models could be successfully used for detailed analysis and simulation of the skyline tensile forces, including the dynamic oscillations due to the motion of the carriage and payload along the cable line. Further developments of this technique could also lead to the physical simulation and analysis of the log-to-ground interaction and the investigation of the breakout force during lateral skidding.

OBJECTIVE: To fully integrate the OIS (MOSAIQ by Elekta) and the Hospital Information System (HIS) to increase efficiency, quality, and safety of care and to streamline clinical workflows and processes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: More than 25 dedicated staff members are currently working at the Radiotherapy Unit of our Institute and treat approximately 700 patients per year with two Elekta linear accelerators. Within a radiation treatment, there is a series of clinical and organizational steps that it is indispensable to do to avoid errors or excessive resource consumption. Our experience has led to the creation of structured workflows to overcome these critical issues through the optimization and integration of HIS and OIS, respectively our hospital and our Radiotherapy Unit data management systems. RESULTS: Through the integration of the main management programs available and the creation of standardized therapeutic paths based on logistical and clinical needs, we managed to optimize both quality of care and accounting services provided. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of different operating systems and the definition of standardized steps within the workflow has led to the abolition of unnecessary operations, making it easier to manage patients’ care and prescription accounting. Furthermore, clinical records have become more readily and accessible by health care providers of our unit. All this translates into a decreased risk of misinformation, or time loss due to bureaucratic and organizational issues, therefore, allowing a significant increase in staff efficiency.

Daniele Cantarella,1 Gianpaolo Savio,2 Luca Grigolato,2 Paolo Zanata,3 Chiara Berveglieri,4 Antonino Lo Giudice,5,6 Gaetano Isola,5 Massimo Del Fabbro,1 Won Moon7 1Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; 2Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering ICEA, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; 3Private Practice, Castelfranco Veneto, Italy; 4Private Practice of Orthodontics, Bondeno, Italy; 5Department of General Surgery and Surgical-Medical Specialties, Section of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Catania, Catania, Italy; 6Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, Section of Orthodontics, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; 7Division of Growth and Development, Section of Orthodontics, School of Dentistry, Center for Health Science, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USACorrespondence: Daniele CantarellaDepartment of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, Via Commenda 10, Milan, ItalyEmail danielecant@hotmail.comIntroduction: Miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) appliances utilize the skeletal anchorage to expand the maxilla. One type of MARPE device is the Maxillary Skeletal Expander (MSE), which presents four micro-implants with bicortical engagement of the palatal vault and nasal floor. MSE positioning is traditionally planned using dental stone models and 2D headfilms. This approach presents some critical issues, such as the inability to identify the MSE position relative to skeletal structures, and the potential risk of damaging anatomical structures.Methods: A novel methodology has been developed to plan MSE position using the digital model of dental arches and cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). A virtual model of MSE appliance with the four micro-implants was created. After virtual planning, a positioning guide is virtually designed, 3D printed, and utilized to model and weld the MSE supporting arms to the molar bands. The expansion device is then cemented in the patient oral cavity and micro-implants inserted. A clinical case of a 12.9-year-old female patient presenting a Class III malocclusion with transverse and sagittal maxillary deficiency is reported.Results: The midpalatal suture was opened with a split of 3.06 mm and 2.8 mm at the anterior and posterior nasal spine, respectively. After facemask therapy, the sagittal skeletal relationship was improved, as shown by the increase in ANB, A-Na perpendicular and Wits cephalometric parameters, and the mandibular plane rotated 1.6° clockwise.Conclusion: The proposed digital methodology represents an advancement in the planning of MSE positioning, compared to the traditional approach. By evaluating the bone morphology of the palate and midface on patient CBCT, the placement of MSE is improved regarding the biomechanics of maxillary expansion and the bone thickness at micro-implants insertion sites. In the present case report, the digital planning was associated with a positive outcome of maxillary expansion and protraction in safety conditions.Keywords: miniscrew-assisted rapid palatal expansion, MARPE, CBCT, MSE, virtual planning, cephalometrics-based digital planning, CBDP, workflow, TAD

Nowadays, the use of 3D printing is becoming a key process for on-demand and customized manufacturing. One of the most flexible 3D printing techniques is fused deposition modeling (FDM), where the combination of multiple materials was recently introduced. A quantum leap in part design is possible by integrating local variations between materials that allow for expanded functionality to be built into a single part. Therefore, the process of co-extrusion and material mixing is becoming more and more popular. The process of management and design of the engineered part are still complicated, and there are no commercially available tools that follow the process from design to production of these highly engineered products. This paper proposes a methodology to fill this gap and allow any designer to be able to produce multi-material parts by editing a G-code (computer numerical control programming language) with engineered gradients for FDM technology. More specifically, the proposed approach is based on the modification of the G-code according to a volumetric model describing the local combination of two or more materials. This original aspect allows for a wide extension of the current software capabilities. To explain and test the method, a simple test case was investigated, in which two components of an earphone are consolidated and developed gradually by combining polylactic acid and thermoplastic polyurethane. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach within the limits of the material coextrusion additive manufacturing process.

Material extrusion additive manufacturing enables us to combine more materials in the same nozzle during the deposition process. This technology, called material coextrusion, generates an expanded range of material properties, which can gradually change in the design domain, ensuring blending or higher bonding/interlocking among the different materials. To exploit the opportunities offered by these technologies, it is necessary to know the behavior of the combined materials according to the materials fractions. In this work, two compatible pairs of materials, namely Polylactic Acid (PLA)-Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) and Acrylonitrile Styrene Acrylate (ASA)-TPU, were investigated by changing the material fractions in the coextrusion process. An original model describing the distribution of the materials is proposed. Based on this, the mechanical properties were investigated by analytical and numerical approaches. The analytical model was developed on the simplified assumption that the coextruded materials are a set of rods, whereas the more realistic numerical model is based on homogenization theory, adopting the finite element analysis of a representative volume element. To verify the deposition model, a specific experimental test was developed, and the modeled material deposition was superimposed and qualitatively compared with the actual microscope images regarding the different deposition directions and material fractions. The analytical and numerical models show similar trends, and it can be assumed that the finite element model has a more realistic behavior due to the higher accuracy of the model description. The elastic moduli obtained by the models was verified in experimental tensile tests. The tensile tests show Young’s moduli of 3425 MPa for PLA, 1812 MPa for ASA, and 162 MPa for TPU. At the intermediate material fraction, the Young’s modulus shows an almost linear trend between PLA and TPU and between ASA and TPU. The ultimate tensile strength values are 63.9 MPa for PLA, 35.7 MPa for ASA, and 63.5 MPa for TPU, whereas at the intermediate material fraction, they assume lower values. In this initial work, the results show a good agreement between models and experiments, providing useful tools for designers and contributing to a new branch in additive manufacturing research.

In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, low emission or zero-emission technologies have been applied to light and heavyduty vehicles by adopting electric propulsion systems and battery energy storage. Hybrid cable yarders and electrical slack-pulling carriages could represent an opportunity to increase the energy efficiency of forestry operations leading to lower impact timber harvesting and economic savings thanks to reduced fuel consumption. However, given the limited experience with hybrid-electric systems applied to cable yarding operations, these assumptions remain uncertain. This study assessed an uphill cable yarding operation using a hybrid cable yarder and an active slack-pulling electric power carriage over thirty working days. A total of 915 work cycles on four different cable lines were analysed. Longterm monitoring using Can-BUS data and direct field observations were used to evaluate the total energy efficiency, total energy efficiency (%), and fuel consumption per unit of timber extracted (L/m3). The use of the electric-hybrid system with a 700 V supercapacitor to store the recovered energy made it possible to reduce the running time of the engine by about 38% of the total working time. However, only 35% to 41% of the Diesel-based mechanical energy was consumed by the mainline and haulback winches. Indeed, the remaining energy was consumed by the other winches of the cable line system (skyline, strawline winches and carriage recharging or breaking during outhaul) or dissipated by the system (e.g., by the haulback blocks). With reference to all work cycles, the highest net energy consumption occurred during the inhaulunload work element with a maximum of 1.15 kWh, consuming 70% of total net energy consumption to complete a work cycle. In contrast, lower energy consumption was recorded for lateral skid and outhaul, recording a maximum of 23% and 32% of the total net energy consumption, respectively. The estimated recovered energy, on average between the four cable lines, was 2.56 kWh. Therefore, the reduced fuel need was assessed to be approximately 730 L of fuel in the 212.5 PMH15 of observation, for a total emissions reduction of 1907 kg CO2 eq, 2.08 kg CO2 eq for each work cycle.

Agroforestry or agricultural forestry is an important resource for the exploitation of wood resources commonly based on a low level of mechanization and integrating agriculture crops land-management. Agroforestry areas consist often of buffer strip forest along the farms’ boundaries or on small forest stands within the same farms. Felling is commonly based on the use of chainsaws which are used occasionally, and are often aged models and with little maintenance done on them. In this context, the present study analyzes the vibration and noise generated by chainsaws in the specific contest of the agroforestry farms. The aim is to verify the hand-arm vibrations and noise level, which self-employed agroforest operators are exposed with the occasional use of aged and rarely maintained chainsaws. The main results show that vibration exposures are significantly affected by the model and condition of use of the chainsaw and at lower level, but still significant, by the wood and the position of the handle. Regarding noise levels, the chainsaw model and condition of use also has significant effects. In summary, this study highlights that the importance of the condition of use of the chainsaw has an important effect on the vibrations and noise exposition and that these, although limited due to the limited daily use by operators, must be carefully taken into consideration, and provide for containment actions through adequate information and training.

The forest road network provides access to the forest area to facilitate the conservation, the management and the value of forest ecosystems. In the case of poor design as well as poor or absent maintenance, the forest road network can cause significant environmental impacts, which can result in erosion and sedimentation, landslides, effects on flora and fauna and landscape impacts. In order to avoid such impacts, the road network must be planned, built and maintained in a correct and adequate way according to the environment in which the same roads are inserted. As consequence, the present paper would like to propose some considerations about forest road functions, definitions as well as in term of standard design and planning to support the implementation of the operative guidelines of the recent consolidate law on forestry.

Soil loss poses a threat to hilly and mountainous areas, particularly where local economies strongly depend on agricultural production. Among agricultural landscapes, vineyards are responsible for the highest erosion rates, particularly in steep-slope landscapes. The impact of vineyard mechanisation on soil loss is only marginally explored in published literature. This study provides an estimation of the annual soil loss rate by application of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) in 24 terraced vineyards located in north-eastern Italy. Field observations showed that 13 vineyards consisted of fully mechanised fields, 5 vineyards had no form of mechanisation, while in 6 vineyards a mixture of practices was found. Soil erodibility (K factor) was derived for these practices (based on soil characteristics and varying degrees of compaction), while slope length and steepness (LS factors) were calculated from a 1-m LiDAR-based DTM, and remaining factors were based on datasets by the European Soil Data Centre. Mechanised fields showed 29% higher erosion rates than non-mechanised fields (respectively 53.9 and 69.5 t ha-1 y-1), although this is not statistically significant. Still, the direct impact of mechanisation is underestimated in this comparison, due to the predominant steep slopes in the manually cultivated fields. Furthermore, estimated soil loss from mechanised fields in addition to mechanised paths and roads is significantly higher by 37% than non-mechanised fields. This study thus offers an indication of how machinery and related soil compaction and transformation of terraces and infrastructure, increases soil loss risk.

The goal of this work is to assess a method for supporting decisions regarding identification of most suitable areas for two types of harvesting approaches in forestry: skyline vs. forwarder. The innovative aspect consists in simulating the choices done during the planning in forestry operations. To do so, remote sensing data from an aerial laser scanner were used to create a digital terrain model (DTM) of ground surface under vegetation cover. Features extracted from the DTM are used as input for several machine learning predictors. Features are slope, distance from nearest roadside, relative height from nearest roadside and roughness index. Training and validation is done using areas defined by experts in the study area. Results show a K value of almost 0.92 for the classifier with best results, random forest. Sensibility of each feature is assessed, showing that both distance and height difference from nearest road-side are more significant than overall DTM value.

On October 29, 2019, the Vaia storm hits the North-Eastern regions of Italy by wind gusts exceeding 200 km h-1. The forests in these regions have been seriously damaged. This contribution illustrates the methodology adopted in the emergency phase to estimate forest damages caused by Vaia storm, both in terms of damaged forest areas and growing stock volume of fallen trees. 494 Municipalities registered forest damages caused by Vaia, destroyed or intensely damaged forest stands amounted to about 42.500 ha, spread in Trentino Alto Adige, Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Lombardy and, only marginally, Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. The growing stock volume of fallen trees was about 8.5 millions m3.

In recent decades fully mechanised cut-to-length forest harvesting systems have spread from flat and gentle to steep and rough terrain. To analyse the potential adverse impact of these changes on operator health, an observational study of exposure to noise and whole-body vibration (WBV) was carried out in karst terrain. The results showed that, in contrast to exposure to noise, the exposure of harvester and forwarder operators to WBV exceeds the daily exposure action value specified in the European Directive. Differences between work sites may contribute up to 8.7 dB(A) to noise exposure and up to 0.28 m/s2 and 6.0 m/s1.75 to WBV exposure when working with forwarders and harvesters. Aside from technical upgrades of machines, reduction of exposure to both WBV and noise, while simultaneously maintaining high productivity, requires careful selection of work sites and adapted work organisation.

Objetivo: descrever a construção e a validação de um instrumento para avaliar o uso do Prontuário Eletrônico do Cidadão da Estratégia e-SUS Atenção Primária (e-SUS APS). Materiais e método: Trata-se de um estudo metodológico no qual foi construído um Modelo Lógico do Prontuário Eletrônico do Cidadão da Estratégia e-SUS APS, que evidencia a necessidade de descrever a Estratégia e-SUS APS, possibilitando observar de maneira ampliada a assistência na Atenção Primária à Saúde, e compreender o Prontuário Eletrônico do Cidadão. O Modelo Lógico baseou-se em: gestão do e-SUS APS e Prontuário Eletrônico do Cidadão. O Modelo foi essencial para subsidiar a elaboração das questões avaliativas. Na sequência, foi elaborado um instrumento e realizada a validação de conteúdo e de aparência, considerando os critérios de relevância, objetividade e clareza, por meio da Técnica Delphi. Para a análise dos dados, foram calculados o Índice de Validade de Conteúdo e a Razão de Validade de Conteúdo das questões. Resultados: a validade foi realizada por 16 juízes, em duas rodadas. O instrumento final consta de 30 questões — seis referentes ao perfil pessoal; duas, ao perfil da unidade de saúde e 22 questões de avaliação do Prontuário Eletrônico do Cidadão e-SUS APS. Conclusões: conclui-se que o instrumento foi considerado apropriado. Satisfação, facilidade do uso, suporte técnico, capacitação e utilização dos relatórios gerados foram os itens elencados como os mais importantes nas questões. O instrumento poderá promover melhor articulação da equipe multiprofissional por meio das informações inseridas no sistema.

Abstract Because of their potent adjuvanticity, ease of manipulation and simplicity of production Gram‐negative Outer Membrane Vesicles OMVs have the potential to become a highly effective vaccine platform. However, some optimization is required, including the reduction of the number of endogenous proteins, the increase of the loading capacity with respect to heterologous antigens, the enhancement of productivity in terms of number of vesicles per culture volume. In this work we describe the use of Synthetic Biology to create Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)Δ60, a strain releasing OMVs (OMVsΔ60) deprived of 59 endogenous proteins. The strain produces large quantities of vesicles (> 40 mg/L under laboratory conditions), which can accommodate recombinant proteins to a level ranging from 5% to 30% of total OMV proteins. Moreover, also thanks to the absence of immune responses toward the inactivated endogenous proteins, OMVsΔ60 decorated with heterologous antigens/epitopes elicit elevated antigens/epitopes‐specific antibody titers and high frequencies of epitope‐specific IFN‐γ‐producing CD8+ T cells. Altogether, we believe that E. coli BL21(DE3)Δ60 have the potential to become a workhorse factory for novel OMV‐based vaccines.

The present study illustrates the manufacturing method of hierarchically porous 3D scaffolds based on åkermanite as a promising bioceramic for stereolithography. The macroporosity was designed by implementing 3D models corresponding to different lattice structures (cubic, diamond, Kelvin, and Kagome). To obtain micro-scale porosity, flame synthesized glass microbeads with 10 wt% of silicone resins were utilized to fabricate green scaffolds, later converted into targeted bioceramic phase by firing at 1100 °C in air. No chemical reaction between the glass microspheres, crystallizing into åkermanite, and silica deriving from silicone oxidation was observed upon heat treatment. Silica acted as a binder between the adjacent microspheres, enhancing the creation of microporosity, as documented by XRD, and SEM coupled with EDX analysis. The formation of ‘spongy’ struts was confirmed by infiltration with Rhodamine B solution. The compressive strength of the sintered porous scaffolds was up to 0.7 MPa with the porosity of 68–84%.

The forest industry around the world is facing common challenges in accessing wood fiber on steep terrain. Fully mechanized harvesting systems based on specialized machines, such as winch-assist forwarders, have been specifically developed for improving the harvesting performances in steep grounds. While the mechanization process is recognized as a safety benefit, the use of cables for supporting the machine traction needs a proper investigation. Only a few studies have analyzed the cable tensile forces of winch-assist forwarders during real operations, and none of them focused on large machines normally used in North America. Consequently, a preliminary study focused on tensile force analysis of large winch-assist forwarders was conducted in three sites in the interior of British Columbia during the fall of 2017. The results report that in 86% of the cycles, the maximum working load of the cable was less than one-third of the minimum breaking load. The tensile force analysis showed an expected pattern of minimum tensile forces while the forwarders were traveling or unloading on the road site and high tensile forces when operating on steep trails, loading or traveling. Further analysis found that the maximum cycle tensile forces occurred most frequently when the machines were moving uphill, independently of whether they were empty or loaded. While the forwarders were operating on the trails, slope, travel direction, and distance of the machines from the anchor resulted statistically significant and able to account for 49% of tensile force variability. However, in the same conditions, the operator settings accounted for 77% of the tensile force variability, suggesting the human factor as the main variable in cable tensile force behavior during winch-assist operations.

Roughness is a dynamic property of the gravel road surface that affects safety, ride comfort as well as vehicle tyre life and maintenance costs. A rapid survey of gravel road condition is fundamental for an effective maintenance planning and definition of the intervention priorities.Different non-contact techniques such as laser scanning, ultrasonic sensors and photogrammetry have recently been proposed to reconstruct three-dimensional topography of road surface and allow extraction of roughness metrics. The application of Microsoft Kinect™ depth camera is proposed and discussed here for collection of 3D data sets from gravel roads, to be implemented in order to allow quantification of surface roughness.The objectives are to: i) verify the applicability of the Kinect sensor for characterization of different forest roads, ii) identify the appropriateness and potential of different roughness parameters and iii) analyse the correlation with vibrations recoded by 3-axis accelerometers installed on different vehicles. The test took advantage of the implementation of the Kinect depth camera for surface roughness determination of 4 different forest gravel roads and one well-maintained asphalt road as reference. Different vehicles (mountain bike, off-road motorcycle, ATV vehicle, 4WD car and compact crossover) were included in the experiment in order to verify the vibration intensity when travelling on different road surface conditions. Correlations between the extracted roughness parameters and vibration levels of the tested vehicles were then verified. Coefficients of determination of between 0.76 and 0.97 were detected between average surface roughness and standard deviation of relative accelerations, with higher values in the case of lighter vehicles.

This study aims to define a simple and effective method to calculate skidding distances on steep karst terrain, rich in ground obstacles (stoniness and rockiness) to support decision planning of secondary and primary forest infrastructure network for timber extraction in productive selective cut forests. Variations between geometrical extraction distances and actual distances were highlighted on the operational planning level (i.e., compartment level) through GIS-related calculation models, focusing on cable skidder timber extraction. Automation in defining geometrical and real extraction distances, as well as relative forest openness were achieved by geo-processing workflows in GIS environment. Due to variation of extraction correction factors at the compartment level from a minimum of 1.19 to a maximum of 5.05 in the same management unit, it can be concluded that planning harvesting operations (timber extraction) at operational level should not include the use of correction factors previously obtained for entire terrain (topographical) categories, sub-categories or even management units.

Additive manufacturing technologies, compared to conventional shaping methods, offer great opportunities in design versatility, for the manufacturing of highly porous ceramic components. However, the application to glass powders, later subjected to viscous flow sintering, involves significant challenges, especially in shape retention and in the achievement of a substantial degree of translucency in the final products. The present paper disclosed the potential of glass recovered from liquid crystal displays (LCD) for the manufacturing of highly porous scaffolds by direct ink writing and masked stereolithography of fine powders mixed with suitable organic additives, and sintered at 950 °C, for 1–1.5 h, in air. The specific glass, featuring a relatively high transition temperature (Tg~700 °C), allowed for the complete burn-out of organics before viscous flow sintering could take place; in addition, translucency was favored by the successful removal of porosity in the struts and by the resistance of the used glass to crystallization.

Cable tensile forces in winch-assist harvesting have been investigated in order to assess the safety concerns of the technology. However, the literature is lacking, particularly in regards to the impact of winch design. In this study, a Summit Winch Assist tethering a feller-director on ground slopes up to 77% was monitored for four days. The cable tensile forces were simultaneously recorded at the harvesting and anchor machine at a frequency of 100 Hz. Cameras and GNSS devices enabled a time study of the operations and the recording of machine positions. Winch functionality and design were disclosed by the manufacturer and used for the interpretation of the results. The cable tensile forces reached 296 kN at the harvesting machine and 260 kN at the anchor machine. The slow negotiation of obstacles while moving downhill recorded the highest peaks, mainly due to threshold settings of the winch in the brake system activation. Lower but significant peaks were also recorded during stationary work tasks. The peaks, however, were limited to a few events and never exceeded the endurance limit of the cable. Overall, the study confirmed recent findings in cable tensile force analysis of active winch-assist operations and provided evidence of the underlaying mechanisms that contribute to cable tensile forces.

Nowadays many types of biomass are studied to satisfy the increased demand of renewable energy based on pellet combustion. However, only a few biomasses fulfil the high quality standard required for pellet used in domestic appliances. European and International standards in force define this quality of non-industrial use of pellets in term of the origin of biomass, physical, mechanical and chemical parameters. Vineyard residues are a worldwide potential source of energy but their compliance to be used in domestic pellet stoves has not been yet proven according to the new standards in force. In order to meet this need, this study makes an exhaustive characterisation of vineyard based pellets manufactured from residues of Prosecco (Glera variety) vineyards, assessing both the quality of biofuel and its behaviour during combustion in a domestic pellet stove. The quality of biofuel has been evaluated according to the in force standards for wood and non-woody pellets. The results show that vineyard pellets do not meet the type B quality standards required for non-industrial use of wood pellet mainly because of the high amount of ash content (>2%) and the high amount of copper (>10 ppm) but they fulfil the specifications of the type B non-woody pellets. Furthermore, during combustion test of vineyard-based pellet the high emission of CO indicates incomplete combustion; and vineyard- based pellet NOx emissions are more than double compared to those obtained during the control tests, confirming that the analysed vineyard-based pellets are unsuitable, as they are, for use in traditional pellet stoves.

A systematic literature review was settled to investigate the application of GIS in terms of methods, complexity and accuracy to support decision on forestry operations and forest road network planning. A comprehensive search for relevant studies was performed to retrieve as many relevant international scientific publications dealing with forestry operations and forest road network planning in the period 1996–2015. The analysis was based on the development of a systematic literature review comprising three steps:  implementation of the database searches by well-defined search terms  identification of all the publications meeting the requirements of the search terms by abstract  choice of the most relevant publications analysis of the contents. In this review, »GIS and forest operations« includes all the descriptors dealing with GIS applied to support forest operations decision and analysis, while »GIS and forest roads« includes all the papers dealing with the analysis, management and planning of forest road or forest road networks. A total of 372 references and 82 publications were selected for the analysis as they were clearly in conformity with the review topics (GIS applications in forest operations and road network planning). The analysis showed that GIS has also been applied successfully and unambiguously to harvesting and transportation engineering in forest operations management. Further to the prevailing use concerning applications to support tactical planning, a significant number of recent publications have turned successfully to GIS applied at operational level. Again, despite the prevailing use concerning applications to support tactical planning, a significant number of recent publications have also turned successfully to GIS applied at operational level with the topics of Forest Operations Management in terms of optimization, productivity and safety analysis. By considering the recent evolution and improvement of GIS technology and the increasing availability of spatial data, as well their improvement in quality and resolution, the application of GIS in forest harvesting and transportation engineering as well as in forest operations management will expand in the near future.

This paper reports a semi-automated workflow for detection and quantification of forest damage from windthrow in an Alpine region, in particular from the Vaia storm in October 2018. A web-GIS platform allows to select the damaged area by drawing polygons; several vegetation indices (VIs) are automatically calculated using remote sensing data (Sentinel-2A) and tested to identify the more suitable ones for quantifying forest damage using cross-validation with ground-truth data. Results show that the mean value of NDVI and NDMI decreased in the damaged areas, and have a strong negative correlation with severity. RGI has an opposite behavior in contrast with NDVI and NDMI, as it highlights the red component of the land surface. In all cases, variance of the VI increases after the event between 0.03 and 0.15. Understorey not damaged from the windthrow, if consisting of 40% or more of the total cover in the area, undermines significantly the sensibility of the VIs to detecting and predicting severity. Using aggregational statistics (average and standard deviation) of VIs over polygons as input to a machine learning algorithm, i.e., Random Forest, results in severity prediction with regression reaching a root mean square error (RMSE) of 9.96, on a severity scale of 0–100, using an ensemble of area averages and standard deviations of NDVI, NDMI, and RGI indices. The results show that combining more than one VI can significantly improve the estimation of severity, and web-GIS tools can support decisions with selected VIs. The reported results prove that Sentinel-2 imagery can be deployed and analysed via web-tools to estimate forest damage severity and that VIs can be used via machine learning for predicting severity of damage, with careful evaluation of the effect of understorey in each situation.

Additive Manufacturing (AM) brought a revolution in parts design and production. It enables the possibility to obtain objects with complex geometries and to exploit structural optimization algorithms. Nevertheless, AM is far from being a mature technology and advances are still needed from different perspectives. Among these, the literature highlights the need of improving the frameworks that describe the design process and taking full advantage of the possibilities offered by AM. This work aims to propose a workflow for AM guiding the designer during the embodiment design phase, from the engineering requirements to the production of the final part. The main aspects are the optimization of the dimensions and the topology of the parts, to take into consideration functional and manufacturing requirements, and to validate the geometric model by computer-aided engineering software. Moreover, a case study dealing with the redesign of a piston rod is presented, in which the proposed workflow is adopted. Results show the effectiveness of the workflow when applied to cases in which structural optimization could bring an advantage in the design of a part and the pros and cons of the choices made during the design phases were highlighted.

Large timber availability after storms can lead to a drop in timber prices that can impact local markets. The Vaia storm, which occurred in Northeastern Italy at the end of October 2018, felled large volumes of timber, particularly spruce. To estimate the loss in volume and value connected to Vaia, data of roundwood sales from four local markets (Province of Trento, Province of Bolzano, Veneto Region and Friuli Venezia Giulia Region) were collected before and after Vaia, as well as reports on the status of salvage operations. The results confirm that Vaia had a strong impact on Northeastern Italy. A large area of the forest was hit and massive volumes of wood were affected. The analysis of prices showed a negative trend in the post-Vaia period due to an increase in volume per sale, especially for stumpage sales. It also highlighted the difficulties of storing the salvaged wood and the consequent fast saturation of the market. Although it was not possible to assess long-term effects on the four local markets, the presence and use of local e-commerce platforms proved useful in making roundwood sales more organized and efficient.

One of the most important issues in ground based wood extraction in forestry is to minimize the soil damage caused by heavy forestry machines. Generally, harvesting effects include changes in vegetation nutrient availability, soil microclimate/structure and litter quantity/ quality. Several studies were carried out on the impacts of heavy machines on the soil. However, only few studies took into consideration the effect of bogie tracks on the soil. The research focuses on the influence of forwarder machines equipped with bogie tracks on the soil compaction through changes of physical soil parameters and precisely bulk density, porosity, shear and penetration resistance. The study was carried out in a conifer stand of Larix decidua Mill. and Picea abies L. in a forest of North-eastern Italy during logging with forwarder. In this site, 3 tracks were identified, 2 concerned loaded forwarder passages and 1 control (no passages). The tracks were: (i) track A with a slope of 31% with 2 passages and track B with a slope of 3% having 10 passages. Soil samples were collected on all tracks in order to determine the influence of forwarder passes on soil physical properties. The results showed a different impact of logging operations on the soil of different tracks.

Different forest management regimes have different carbon footprints due to alternative operational strategies and options. Data concerning CO2 emissions (kg m–3) in felling, extraction, comminution and transport operations, performed under two different forest management regime (close-to-nature and plantation), were collected through a systematic literature review involving 162 scientific papers and compiled into a database. Results show that, within limits, forest operations in plantations produce lower emissions due to easier operational conditions, while transportation in both close-to-nature and plantation based forest operations reported the highest levels of emissions. Literature came from a variety of sources and often differed in context due to factors such as technology, work technique, operator skill and environmental conditions. These factors have been shown to highly affect the results obtained from the studies. Nevertheless, it has been possible to summarize most of the information gathered and to highlight the most representative driving factors in CO2 emissions throughout different forest management regimes.

Chestnut forests represent an important environmental and landscape element in Europe, especially in the hill regions of southern Europe. In Italy, the total surface amount of chestnut forests is slightly expanded with 788,408 hectares, but orchards show a dramatic reduction (147,586 hectares or 20% of the total) and timber-producing stands a comparable expansion (605,888 hectares or 80%). The coppice management actually applied is considered one of the oldest forms of sustainable forest management. Over the years, coppice highlighted its versatility, resilience and multifunctionality. In this management system, in consideration of the “frequent” cutting cycles, special attention must be paid to forestry operations, because tree damage and soil compaction can trigger fungal disease and soil erosion. Frequent and repeated machine traffic increases the risk for soil degradation derived from compaction, topsoil removal and general disturbance. This study covered different forest areas and mechanization levels, in order to evaluate if the extent, type and severity of soil disturbance changed with site characteristics and logging technique. Furthermore, the study sought to obtain a better knowledge about the recovery time required for restoring the original soil properties after a disturbance has occurred. The findings showed that physical, chemical, and biological soil features were only partially disturbed by the coppicing and again that a high level of specialized mechanization does not generate heavier soil impact compared with the smaller and lighter machines deployed under the traditional and intermediate mechanization scenarios. Soil recovery in the impacted areas is already measurable one year after harvest and may be complete within the eight year—that is halfway through the standard rotation applied in the region to chestnut coppice.

Oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) comprise a range of clinical-pathological alterations frequently characterized by an architectural and cytological derangements upon histological analysis. Among them, oral leukoplakia is the most common type of these disorders. This work aims to analyze the possible use of drugs such as immunochemopreventive agents for OPMDs. Chemoprevention is the use of synthetic or natural compounds for the reversal, suppression, or prevention of a premalignant lesion conversion to malignant form. Experimental and in vivo data offer us the promise of molecular prevention through immunomodulation; however, currently, there is no evidence for the efficacy of these drugs in the chemoprevention action. Alternative ways to deliver drugs, combined use of molecules with complementary antitumor activities, diet influence, and better definition of individual risk factors must also be considered to reduce toxicity, improve compliance to the protocol treatment and offer a better individualized prevention. In addition, we must carefully reconsider the mode of action of many traditional cancer chemoprevention agents on the immune system, such as enhancing immunosurveillance and reversing the immune evasion. Several studies emphasize the concept of green chemoprevention as an alternative approach to accent healthy lifestyle changes in order to decrease the incidence of HNSCC.

Tongue squamous cell carcinoma is the most common malignancy in the oral cavity. Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, the prognosis of advanced states has not significantly improved. Depth of invasion, pattern of invasion such as tumor budding grade, lingual lymph node metastasis in early stages, collective cell migration and circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood are some examples of the mechanisms that are currently receiving increasing attention in the evaluation of the prognosis of tongue cancers. Anatomic-based surgery showed that it is possible to improve loco-regional control of tongue cancer. In patients with a “T-N tract involvement”, there is significantly more distant recurrence (40%) in patients undergoing a compartmental tongue surgery. In general, the neoplastic infiltration of the lingual muscles is traced back to the finding of neoplastic tissue along the course of a muscle; however, the muscle fibers, due to their spatial conformation and the organization of the extracellular matrix, could influence the movement of tumor cells through the muscle, leaving its three-dimensional structure unchanged. We need to exclude the possibility that tongue muscle fibers represent a mechanism for the diffusion of cancer cells without muscle invasion.

Large scale windthrow salvage logging is increasing in Central Europe because of the growth of severe atmospheric events due to global heating. Sustainable forest operations in these conditions are challenging in terms of both productivity performances and safety of the operations. Fully mechanized harvesting systems are the preferred solution on trafficable terrains and proper slopes. However, different work methods and logistic organization of the operations could largely change the overall performances. The study observed three harvesting sites based on fully mechanized cut-to-length systems and located in areas affected by the Vaia storm, which hit north-eastern Italy in October 2018. The objectives were to estimate forwarder productivity in salvage logging in difficult terrain and to identify significant variables affecting this productivity under real working conditions. Time and motion studies were carried out and covered 59.9 PMH15, for a total of 101 working cycles, extracting a total volume of 1277 m3 of timber. Average time consumption for each site was 38.7, 42.2, and 25.1 PMH15 with average productivity of 22.5, 18.5, and 29.4 m3/PMH15, respectively, for Sites A, B, and C. A total of seven explanatory variables significantly affected forwarder productivity. Average load volume, maximum machine inclination during loading, and number of logs positively affected the productivity. On the contrary, travel distance, load volume, maximum ground slope during moving and loading have a negative influence. With an average travel distance of 500 m, the productivity resulted 20.52, 16.31, and 23.03 m3/PMH15, respectively, for Sites A, B, and C. An increase of 200 m of travel distance causes a decrease in productivity of 6%.

Este artigo identificou a trajetória e o desempenho de alunos da educação técnica de nível médio em Enfermagem, a partir da perspectiva dos estudantes de três instituições de ensino de Ribeirão Preto, SP. Não foi comprovada a hipótese de que dificuldades advindas da educação básica interfiram na aprendizagem de enfermagem. A partir daí, faz-se uma reflexão sobre o contexto atual da educação profissional de nível médio em Enfermagem no Brasil e as inter-relações com a sociedade, apreendendo a relação entre o curso de Enfermagem e a qualidade da formação do técnico em enfermagem no Brasil.

The increasing demand of vegetal biomass for biogas production is causing competition with food production. To reduce this problem and to provide new opportunities it is necessary to take into consideration different kinds of vegetable biomass that are more sustainable. Grass from the maintenance of non-cultivated areas such as riverbanks has not yet been fully studied as a potential biomass for biogas production. Although grass has lower methane potential, it could be interesting because it does not compete with food production. However, there is a lack of appropriate technologies and working system adapted to these areas. In this paper, different systems that could be available for the mowing and harvesting of grass along riverbanks have been preliminarily assessed through the evaluation of the field capacity, labour requirement, economic and energy aspects. The splitting of the cutting and harvesting phases into operations with different machinery seems to be the best system for handling this biomass. However, these solutions have to take into consideration the presence of obstacles or accessibility problems in the harvesting areas that could limit the operational feasibility and subsequent correct sizing.

The growing interest about wood as fuel regards not only wood chips and pellets but also firewood, especially in mountain and rural areas where domestic heating plants are widely used. Due to the increased demand for firewood, harvesting activities have extended on broadleaved high forests as well as coppice. As a consequence, the diameter of logs has increased requiring larger and larger splitting machines; nowadays it is not uncommon to find on the market splitters able to process logs with diameter up to 50-60 cm. In order to increase the productivity, the effort of machine producers is directed to obtain the complete splitting of the log into firewood in only one step using multiple ways splitting knives. This technical solution may cause some drawbacks especially when the splitting knives are not properly adapted to the log diameter; it happens that the size of firewood is not homogeneous and splinters are produced, which requires using screens to separate them from the main product. In order to evaluate the work quality of a firewood processor, equipped with multiple ways splitting knives, an experimental test has been carried out using a machine in which the log diameter is automatically detected through a laser device; according to the log diameter the multiple ways splitting knives (formed by fixed and mobile knives, the latter hydraulically operated) is properly set up to obtain regularly sized firewood. Furthermore the log is automatically centred on the splitting knife set-up. The results of the experimental test showed that the firewood processor is able to produce firewood with homogeneous size and with a low production of splinters, regardless of log diameter.

The management of forest road networks is usually influenced by the traffic generated by wood transportation. In order to analyze the distribution and intensity of traffic generated by wood transportation in an Alpine region, the study considered a 21-year period with a total of 2 231 logging operations on a forest road network in a mountainous area. Most of the forest road network was affected by traffic load intensities generally of less than 500 t per year. The distribution of the traffic load over time and the characteristics of the road network inferred that the traffic load could assume different intensities and distributions over the years because of different locations and intensities of the logging operations. A GIS-based approach makes it possible to identify the forest road segments with high traffic loads in support of decisions on road network planning and management priorities.

The combination of GIS tools and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) techniques is used to develop a Decision Support System to rank the maintenance priorities of a forest road network according to the actual conditions and needs. The decision-making process is divided into 4 stages. The first stage fixes the objectives of the analysis as the minimization of the sediment production from road surface and the maximization of the social value of the road. The second stage defines the hierarchical structure of the decision problem. At this stage the set of factors (criteria) to maximize each objective and the evaluation methods are defined. At the third stage AHP analysis is applied using a specific application running on ArcGIS, to calculate the evaluation layer that represents the importance of each road according to the set objectives. The values of the evaluation layer are used at the fourth stage to rank the maintenance interventions according to the given benefit. The methodology has been tested in a forest road network with an extension of 107.8 km including in the analysis the real budget constraints and maintenance costs. The results show that the integrated use of GIS and AHP analysis represents a valuable tool to rate the importance of the forest road network for the management of a mountain territory and to define priorities among maintenance operations of the road network, in order to maximize the overall benefit with limited economic resources.

In this study a Discrete-event simulation (D-es) has been developed to analyze the wood supply chain for firewood production in a mountain area in North-eastern Italy. The D-es is applied in the modeling of extraction (Full Tree System), processing of roundwood into wood assortments (cross-cut and sorting), offroad and on-road transport. In order to estimate the productivity functions and parameters, field studies were conducted to gather data about the different operations linked in the model. Also a GIS network analysis was developed to integrate the spatial information onthe covered distance to the D-es model for each of the supposed Scenarios. The results indicats that an increment of 5 m ha-1 of the forest road network could significantly increase the productivity of the wood supply chain up to 2%.