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To test whether youths who engage in vigorous physical activity are more likely to have lean bodies while ingesting relatively large amounts of energy. For this purpose, we studied the associations of both physical activity and adiposity with energy intake in adolescents.The study subjects were adolescents who participated in 1 of 2 cross-sectional studies, the Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence (HELENA) study (n = 1450; mean age, 14.6 years) or the European Youth Heart Study (EYHS; n = 321; mean age, 15.6 years). Physical activity was measured by accelerometry, and energy intake was measured by 24-hour recall. In the HELENA study, body composition was assessed by 2 or more of the following methods: skinfold thickness, bioelectrical impedance analysis, plus dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry or air-displacement plethysmography in a subsample. In the EYHS, body composition was assessed by skinfold thickness.Fat mass was inversely associated with energy intake in both studies and using 4 different measurement methods (P ≤ .006). Overall, fat-free mass was positively associated with energy intake in both studies, yet the results were not consistent across measurement methods in the HELENA study. Vigorous physical activity in the HELENA study (P < .05) and moderate physical activity in the EYHS (P < .01) were positively associated with energy intake. Overall, results remained unchanged after adjustment for potential confounding factors, after mutual adjustment among the main exposures (physical activity and fat mass), and after the elimination of obese subjects, who might tend to underreport energy intake, from the analyses.Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that more physically active and leaner adolescents have higher energy intake than less active adolescents with larger amounts of fat mass.

Climate change is currently attracting interest at both research and policy levels. However, it is usually explored in terms of its effect on agriculture, water, industry, energy, transport and health and as yet has been insufficiently addressed as a factor threatening cultural heritage. Among the climate parameters critical to heritage conservation and expected to change in the future, precipitation plays an important role in surface recession of stone. The Lipfert function has been taken under consideration to quantify the annual surface recession of carbonate stone, due to the effects of clean rain, acid rain and dry deposition of pollutants. The present paper provides Europe-wide maps showing quantitative predictions of surface recession on carbonate stones for the 21st century, combining a modified Lipfert function with output from the Hadley global climate model. Chemical dissolution of carbonate stones, via the karst effect, will increase with future CO(2) concentrations, and will come to dominate over sulfur deposition and acid rain effects on monuments and buildings in both urban and rural areas. During the present century the rainfall contribution to surface recession is likely to have a small effect, while the increase in atmospheric CO(2) concentration is shown to be the main factor in increasing weathering via the karst effect.

The use of non-food feedstocks to produce renewable microbial resources can limit our dependence on fossil fuels and lower CO2 emissions. Since microalgae display a virtuous CO2 and O2 exchange with heterotrophs, the microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii was combined with the oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi, known for their production of oil, base material for biodiesel. The coupled growth was shown to be synergistic for biomass and lipid production. The species were truly symbiotic since synergistic growth occurred even when the alga cannot use the organic carbon in the feedstock and in absence of air, thus depending entirely on CO2-O2 exchange. Since addition of acetate as the algal carbon source lowered the performance of the consortium, the microbial system design should take into account algal mixotrophy. The mixed biomass was found be suitable for biodiesel production, and whereas lipid production increased in the consortium, yields should be improved in future studies.

Districts have a significant role in achieving the principles of sustainability. Within the past decades, a great variety of assessment tools and methodologies has been developed in an effort to ‘translate’ the sustainability criteria into applied cases. There is an increasing interest in this contribution scaled up the assessment to larger territorial analysis and urban agglomerations. Notwithstanding, developing an assessment tool with sustainable standards requires strategic approaches to incorporate the theoretical framework to their implementation of city districts by measuring their performance in a consistent manner in respect of multiple criteria. Among these issues, energy efficiency and the zero energy objectives are significant for European policies. This study aims to provide an overview of the existing assessment tools and methods comparing their criteria and key parameters. As a second step, it introduces a simplified methodological assessment theoretical tool (U-ZED) by focusing on the commitment towards the zero energy targets in a future district. In a more general perspective, the study deals with the challenge of the development of a tool from building to district with the main concern to define the context of sustainable and long-term districts dealing with the challenges of 2050 horizon.

This textbook focuses on sustainable energy production using solid materials. With explanatory tables and figures, case studies, worked-out examples, and up-to-date bibliographies of other works, the book provides an in-depth exploration of the most innovative aspects of the field. Readers of the book will gain critical skills in characterizing and reacting to biomass, including the formation of pollutants, as well as using fluidized bed reactors for heterogeneous processes. The book also explores innovative methods for mitigating the greenhouse effect, reusing ashes as adsorbents or in cement production, and thermochemical solar energy storage. This book will give students, novice researchers, and industry professionals valuable insights and knowledge into the sustainable production of energy using solid materials.

It is well known that cold and diet-induced thermogenesis, which is mediated in small rodents by the hypothalamic-noradrenergic fibers-brown adipose tissue axis, is impaired in genetically obese mice. To test whether these adaptive mechanisms are also impaired in obese humans, 12 young males who were otherwise healthy (6 lean and 6 obese) were examined. The obese subjects had an early-onset type of obesity with a strong family history of it as well. Deep body temperature was measured by using a deep body thermometer furnished with three thermocouples. They were respectively placed on the sternum, on the interscapular area immediately under the neck (HIS), and on the 4th intercostal space (LIS) in order to study core temperature as well as heat production where brown adipose tissue could also be present in adults. Both lean and obese subjects were kept in a thermoneutral environment (28 degrees C) until they reached a steady-state body temperature and then rapidly transferred into a cold room (6-8 degrees C) where they remained up to 60 min. Body temperature decreased in both groups, but the decrease was more marked in the obese individuals on the sternum (P less than 0.01), on HIS (P less than 0.05) and on LIS (P less than 0.05) when compared to lean individuals. In conclusion, cold-induced thermogenesis is impaired in familial early-onset human obesity and in genetically obese mice.

Atmospheric fine particulate pollutant affects seriously the human health but also the passage of light through the lower atmosphere, reducing the solar radiation reaching the ground as well as the PV panels. In this study, the solar insolation reduction due to air pollution has been investigated in the city of Naples (Italy). Analyzing local long term field data, we have obtained that the solar insolation reduction is exponentially correlated to the PM2.5 concentration. By using the derived empirical relation, for Naples it was estimated that the solar insolation was reduced around 5% or 66.20 kWh/m−2 within one-year period (May 2018–May 2019), due to air fine particulate pollution. This study provides the theoretical basis to design successful solar PV systems to be mounted on building rooftops or in other suitable sites, taking into account also the local air pollution condition.