Comparison of topological,empirical and optimization-based approaches for locating quality detection points in water distribution networks

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The positioning of quality detection points as well as the frequency of sampling is a crucial aspect for the implementation of Water Safety Plans...     

Application of smart irrigation systems for water conservation in Italian farms

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In many countries, water supplies are limited and must be managed for different uses. Providing additional resources for irrigation can be an...     

Occurrence of chemical pollutants in major e-waste sites in West Africa and usefulness of cytotoxicity and induction of ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) in determining the effects of some detected brominated flame retardants and e-waste soil-derived extracts

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - We investigated the occurrence of chemical pollutants in major e-waste sites in West Africa and usefulness of cytotoxicity and induction of...     

Accounting for adaptation and its effectiveness in International Environmental Agreements

Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - This paper analyses, within a standard International Environmental Agreement game, the effect of the introduction of adaptation on climate negotiation....     

Mechanical properties of Municipal Solid Waste by SDMT

In the paper the results of a geotechnical investigation carried on Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) materials retrieved from the “Cozzo Vuturo” landfill in the Enna area (Sicily, Italy) are reported and analyzed. Mechanical properties were determined both by in situ and laboratory large-scale one dimensional compression tests.While among in situ tests, Dilatomer Marchetti Tests (DMT) is used widely in measuring soil properties, the adoption of the DMT for the measurements of MSW properties has not often been documented in literature. To validate its applicability for the estimation of MSW properties, a comparison between the seismic dilatometer (SDMT) results and the waste properties evaluated by laboratory tests was carried out.Parameters for “fresh” and “degraded waste” have been evaluated. These preliminary results seems to be promising as concerns the assessment of the friction angle of waste and the evaluation of the S-wave in terms of shear wave velocity. Further studies are certainly required to obtain more representative values of the elastic parameters according to the SDMT measurements.     

Synthesis of zeolite from Italian coal fly ash: Differences in crystallization temperature using seawater instead of distilled water

In this study Italian coal fly ash was converted into several types of zeolite in laboratory experiments with temperatures of crystallization ranging from 35 up to 90 °C. Distilled and seawater were used during the hydrothermal synthesis process in separate experiments, after a pre-treatment fusion with NaOH.The results indicate that zeolites could be formed from different kind of Italian coal fly ash at low temperature of crystallization using both distilled and seawater. SEM data and the powder patterns of X-ray diffraction analysis show that faujasite, zeolite ZK-5 and sodalite were synthesized when using both distilled and seawater; zeolite A crystallized only using distilled water. In particular the experiments indicate that the synthesis of zeolite X and zeolite ZK-5 takes place at lower temperatures when using seawater (35 and 45 °C, respectively). The formation of sodalite is always competitive with zeolite X which shows a metastable behaviour at higher temperatures (70–90 °C).The chemical composition of the fly ash source could be responsible of the differences on the starting time of synthesized zeolite with distilled water, in any case our data show that the formation of specific zeolites takes place always at lower temperatures when using seawater.     

Analytical characterization of movements of the spinal column and risk assessment due to repeated movements of the upper limbs of building painters

Manual activities of construction workers may induce musculoskeletal disorders. This study on a group of painters aimed to analytically characterize movements of the spinal column by both lumbar motion monitor and television cameras and to determine, using the Occupational Repetitive Actions (OCRA) Index method, the risk exerted by repeated movements of the upper limbs. The main results are: painting with a roller generally exposes workers to a lesser risk for upper limbs than painting with a brush; a roller-stick fixed at the wrong length can lead to stretching of the back at lumbar and cervical levels; to remain within the range of ‘acceptable risk’ (OCRA Index evaluation), a worker should not paint a vertical wall for over 3 h if using a roller and 2.5 h if painting with a brush; and, on average, a painter who paints for 5 h in a day lifts the bucket about 120,140 times.     

Correction to: Human behavior and Homo-mammal interactions at the first European peopling: new evidence from the Pirro Nord site (Apricena,Southern Italy)

The Science of Nature - Female-only colour polymorphism is rare in birds, but occurs in brood parasitic cuckoos (Cuculidae). Obligate brood parasites leave incubation and parental care to other...     

The short-chain perfluorinated compounds PFBS, PFHxS, PFBA and PFHxA, disrupt human mesenchymal stem cell self-renewal and adipogenic differentiation

Per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs) are commonly used in industrial processes and daily life products. Because they are persistent, they accumulate in the environment, wildlife and humans. Although many studies have focused on two of the most representative PFASs, PFOS and PFOA, the potential toxicity of short-chain PFASs has not yet been given sufficient attention. We used a battery of assays to evaluate the toxicity of several four-carbon and six-carbon perfluorinated sulfonates and carboxyl acids (PFBS, PFHxS, PFBA and PFHxA), with a human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) system. Our results demonstrate significant cyto- and potential developmental toxicity for all the compounds analyzed, with shared but also distinct mechanisms of toxicity. Moreover, the effects of PFBS and PFHxS were stronger than those of PFBA and PFHxA, but occurred at higher doses compared to PFOS or PFOA.