• Energy Research
• Closed Access close
• IT close
• ES close
• US close
• English close

Acute oral administration of ethanol (3.2g/kg) to rats increased (DOPAC) levels in the caudate nucleus, but had no effect on DOPAC levels in the substantia nigra and frontal cortex and failed to modify dopamine content in any of the above areas. On the other hand, the administration of the same dose of ethanol to rats which had been chronically treated with ethanol (3.2g/kg daily for 60 days), produced a decrease of DA content and a parallel increase of DOPAC levels in all areas studied. In chronically treated rats, 24 hrs after last ethanol administration dopamine levels in the frontal cortex were 60% higher than in controls. The results suggest that ethanol administration causes dopamine release in different brain areas.

RFID tags will really become smart objects of the Internet of Things (IoT) if they will be able to exploit the passive nature of the communication also for exchanging data with any other networked devices in the Internet. To this aim, an adaptation layer, named 6lo-RFID, has been specifically designed to run IPv6 over the RFID link technology. In this paper we draw the design principles for the development of a fully passive, IPv6-compliant, and energy-efficient 6lo-RFID tag platform. In particular, we discuss the block's design of an RF energy harvester and evaluate the simulated performance of a fully-passive 6lo-RFID tag when GET/PUT CoAP methods are used to execute operations on the tag memory.

The importance of emission control has increased sharply due to increased need of energy from combustion. However, biomass utilization in energy production is not free from problems because of physical and chemical characteristics which are substantially different from conventional energy sources. In this situation, the quantity and quality of emissions as well as used renewable source as wood or corn grain are often unknown. To assess this problem the paper addresses the objectives to quantify the amount of greenhouse gases during the combustion of corn as compared to the emissions in fossil combustion (natural gas, LPG and diesel boiler). The test was carried out in Friuli Venezia Giulia in 2006-2008 to determine the air pollution (CO, NO, NO2, NOx, SO2 and CO2) from fuel combustion in the family boilers with power between 20-30 kWt. The flue gas emission was measured with a professional semi-continuous multi-gas analyzer, (Vario plus industrial, MRU air Neckarsulm-Obereisesheim). Data showed a lower emission of fossil fuel compared to corn in family boilers in reference to pollutants in the flue gas (NOx, SO2 and CO). In particular way the biomass combustion make a higher concentration of carbon monoxide (for a incomplete combustion because there aren’t a good mixing between fuel and air) and nitrogen oxides (in relation at higher content of nitrogen in herbaceous biomass in comparison of another fuel). Proceedings of the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 6-10 June 2011, Berlin, Germany, pp. 1296-1304

The main challenge for concrete industry - and in general for construction materials - is to serve the two major needs of human society, the protection of the environment, on one hand, and the requirements of buildings and infrastructures by the world?s growing population, on the other. In the past concrete industry has satisfied these needs well. However, for a variety of reasons, the situation has changed dramatically in the last years. First of all, the concrete industry is the largest consumer of natural resources. Secondly, Portland cement, the binder of modern concrete mixtures, is not as environmentally friendly. The world's cement production, in fact, contributes to the earth's atmosphere about 7% of the total CO2 emissions, CO2 being one of the primary greenhouse gas (GHG) responsible for global warming and climate change. As a consequence, concrete industry in the future has to face two antithetically needs. In other words, how the concrete industry can feed the growing population needs being - at the same time - sustainable? The answer to this question is represented by the ?3R-Green Strategy? widely discussed in the first chapter of this PhD thesis: Reduction in consumption of gross energy for construction materials production, Reduction in polluting emissions and Reduction in consuming not renewable natural resources. In particular, this thesis is focused on the alternative binders to Portland cement such as alkali-activated slag cements and calcium sulphoaluminate cement-based binders in order to manufacture sustainable mixtures for special applications such as repair mortars, lightweight reinforced plasters and concretes for slabs on ground. The experimental results show the feasibility of manufacturing both EN 1504-3 R3 class mortars and Portland-free concretes for jointless slabs on ground with calcium sulphoaluminate cement, supplementary cementitious materials (fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag) and hydrated lime instead of Portland cement. Moreover, alkali-activated mortars and concretes seem to be a reasonable alternative to natural hydraulic lime-based and/or traditional Portland cement-based mixtures for rehabilitation or restoration of ancient masonry buildings and existing concretes structures. Finally, a new sustainability index was developed taking into account the environmental impact, the performances and the durability of mixtures. In particular, in the environmental impact section, the natural raw materials consumption, the greenhouse gas emissions and the energy consumption have been considered. Furthermore, depending on the applications and the environments, design parameters and properties related to durability have been assigned to each mixture. less

Acute ethanol administration stimulates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and increases (3a,5a)-3-hydroxypregnan-20-one (3a,5a-THP) levels in rat brain and plasma. Increased 3a,5a-THP levels contribute to the anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, sedative and pro-aggressive actions of ethanol. We now explored the effects of ethanol on brain and plasma 3a,5a-THP levels in C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) mice, two inbred strains with different sensitivity to behavioral effects of alcohol. Mice were injected with ethanol (2 g/kg, i.p.) or saline and were sacrificed 1 h later. 3a,5a-THP levels were measured by radioimmunoassay in cerebral cortex and by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry in plasma. Ethanol increased cerebral cortical 3a,5a-THP (+38%, P < 0.005) in D2 but not B6 mice. In contrast, plasma 3a,5a-THP levels were decreased (-27%, P < 0.01) in B6 mice, but did not change in D2 mice. These differential effects of ethanol on 3a,5a-THP levels may be due to the different genetic background of these strains. To further explore this hypothesis, we examined ethanol-induced changes in cerebral cortical 3a,5a-THP levels of some B6xD2 (BXD) recombinant inbred strains. Basal 3a,5a-THP levels across 8 BXD strains range between 1.81 and 3.72 ng/g, equivalent to a 2-fold genetic variation [F(9,79) = 6.27, P < 0.0001] and heritability of 0.40. The ethanol-induced changes in cerebral cortical 3a,5a-THP levels range between +4 and +63% and were negatively correlated (Spearman -0.82, P = 0.02) with behavioral phenotypes of ethanol consumption previously determined in the BXD strains and available in the GeneNetwork database (www.genenetwork.org). Greater ethanol intake was associated with smaller elevation of 3a,5a-THP following ethanol challenge across these BXD mice. This preliminary finding supports the hypothesis that neurosteroid responses to ethanol may be putative biomarkers of excessive alcohol consumption. Future studies will be required to further explore this hypothesis.

A new dataset of 54 daily Italian downward surface solar radiation (SSR) records has been set up over the 1959- 2013 period. Particular emphasis is placed upon the quality control and the homogenization of the records in order to eliminate gross-errors and not climatic signals contained in the original records. This step has been shown as necessary due to the large differences obtained between the raw and homogenized dataset, especially during the first decades of the study period as a consequence of instrument changes and recalibrations. In addition, SSR series under clear-sky conditions were obtained considering only the cloudless days from corresponding groundbased cloudiness observations. Subsequently, the records were interpolated onto a regular grid and clustered in two regions, Northern and Southern Italy, which were averaged in order to get all-sky and clear-sky regional SSR records. Their temporal evolution is presented, and possible reasons for differences between the two conditions and the two regions are discussed in order to understand which part of the SSR variability depends on aerosols or clouds. Specifically, the all-sky SSR records show a decrease until the mid-1980s (dimming period) and a following increase until the end of the series (brightening period) even if the strength and the persistence of the tendencies are not the same in all seasons. The clear-sky records present stronger tendencies than the all-sky records during the dimming period in all seasons, and during the brightening period in winter and autumn, suggesting that under all-sky the variations caused by the variations of the aerosol concentrations have been partially masked by cloud cover variations, especially during the dimming period. The peculiarity of a stronger dimming in the South than in the North under clear-sky could be a consequence of a significant contribution of mineral dust variations to the SSR variability.

The road network design problem is widely studied in the literature, both in urban and rural areas; most papers deal with the solution algorithms and with the mathematical formulation of the problem. The road network design problem is NP-hard and is very difficult to solve in acceptable computing times for real-scale networks. In urban areas, the objective of the design is usually the minimisation in total travel time on the network, while in rural areas it is usually a sum of total travel time and total (i.e. construction and maintenance) road costs. Very few papers consider other terms in the objective function and/or propose a multicriteria approach. In our best knowledge, no papers consider as objective of the design to minimise the fuel consumption, even if it is an actual objective of road network planning and design. In this paper, we compare the results obtained by solving some road network design problems adopting the classic objective functions and adopting as objective the minimisation in fuel consumptions on the network. In order to obtain this result, in the paper a fuel consumption function is proposed, based on CORINAIR models and depending on the vehicle fleet of the study area; this function is used both for estimating the reduction in fuel consumption due to the design obtained with the classic objective functions and for designing the road network using as objective function the total consumption on the network. The results obtained with these approaches are compared in terms of fuel consumed and total travel time spent on the network. The minimisation in fuel consumption is very important since greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants are directly related to the consumption. Initial tests highlighted that the results obtained with the two different approaches are more significant in rural areas, where higher average flow speeds may produce higher consumption, according to the CORINAIR models.

The unprecedented improvement of the quality of life occurred in some regions of the world during the last century has been predominantly powered by fossil fuels, which still provide over 80% of our primary energy supply. This share has to be drastically reduced to curb the effects of a catastrophic climate change. The chief candidate to phase out the oil-gas-coal age is solar energy, which is available in several direct and indirect forms and is by far the most abundant, sustainable, and safe energy source we can rely on [1,2]. The transition to a solar-powered civilization will be a long and difficult process in which some key trends can be already envisaged: (1) growing share of electricity in energy end use [3]; (2) increase of efficiency in energy production [1,2]; (3) establishment of technologies for the manufacturing of solar fuels [4]; (4) recycling the equipment used for converting renewable energy flows that is often made of materials available in limited supply [5]. Solutions to the tremendous challenge of energy transition require the mobilization of huge human and economic resources in several scientific and technological fields, with chemistry playing a prominent role. In this broader context, some research results from our laboratories in the fields of materials for solar energy conversion and efficient lighting technologies will be illustrated [6,7]. [1] N. Armaroli and V. Balzani, Energy for a Sustainable World - From the Oil Age to a Sun Powered Future, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2011. [2] N. Armaroli, V. Balzani and N. Serpone, Powering Planet Earth - Energy Solutions for the Future, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2013. [3] N. Armaroli and V. Balzani Energ. Environ. Sci., 2011, 4, 3193-3222. [4] J. Barber Chem. Soc. Rev., 2009, 38, 185-196. [5] B. K. Reck and T. E. Graedel Science, 2012, 337, 690-695. [6] R. D. Costa, E. Orti, H. J. Bolink, F. Monti, G. Accorsi and N. Armaroli Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2012, 51, 8178-8211. [7] K. Yoosaf, J. Iehl, I. Nierengarten, M. Hmadeh, A.-M. Albrecht-Gary, J.-F. Nierengarten and N. Armaroli Chem.-Eur. J., 2014, 20, 223-231.?