Purpose The purpose of this study is to describe the design and validation of a three-dimensional (3D)-printed phantom of a uterus to support the development of uterine balloon tamponade devices conceived to stop post-partum haemorrhages (PPHs). Design/methodology/approach The phantom 3D model is generated by analysing the main requirements for validating uterine balloon tamponade devices. A modular approach is implemented to guarantee that the phantom allows testing these devices under multiple working conditions. Once finalised the design, the phantom effectiveness is validated experimentally. Findings The modular phantom allows performing the required measurements for testing the performance of devices designed to stop PPH. Social implications PPH is the leading obstetric cause of maternal death worldwide, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. The proposed phantom could speed up and optimise the design and validation of devices for PPH treatment, reducing the maternal mortality ratio. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the 3D-printed phantom represents the first example of a modular, flexible and transparent uterus model. It can be used to validate and perform usability tests of medical devices.

Two meteorite pieces have been recovered in Italy, near the town of Cavezzo (Modena), on 4 January 2020. The associated fireball was observed on the evening of New Year’s Day 2020 by eight all-sky cameras of the PRISMA fireball network, a partner of FRIPON. The computed trajectory had an inclination angle of approximately 68 and a velocity at infinity of 12.8 km s. Together with the relatively low terminal height, estimated as 21.5 km, those values were indicating the significant possibility of a meteorite dropping event, as additionally confirmed by the non zero residual total mass. The strewn-field was computed taking into account the presence of two bright light flashes, revealing that the meteoroid had been very likely subject to fragmentation. Three days after the event, two samples, weighing 3.1 g and 52.2 g, were collected as a result of a dedicated field search and thanks to the involvement of the local people. The two pieces were immediately recognised as freshly fallen fragments of meteorite. The computed orbital elements, compared with the ones of known Near-Earth Asteroids from the NEODyS database, are compatible with one asteroid only; 2013 VC10. The estimated original mass of the meteoroid, 3.5 kg, and size, approximately 13 cm, is so far the smallest among the current 35 cases in which meteorites were recovered from precise strewn-field computation thanks to observational data. This result demonstrates the effectiveness of accurate processing of fireball network data even on challenging events generated by small size meteoroids.

Context: Until recently, camera networks designed for monitoring fireballs worldwide were not fully automated, implying that in case of a meteorite fall, the recovery campaign was rarely immediate. This was an important limiting factor as the most fragile - hence precious - meteorites must be recovered rapidly to avoid their alteration. Aims: The Fireball Recovery and InterPlanetary Observation Network (FRIPON) scientific project was designed to overcome this limitation. This network comprises a fully automated camera and radio network deployed over a significant fraction of western Europe and a small fraction of Canada. As of today, it consists of 150 cameras and 25 European radio receivers and covers an area of about 1.5 million square kilometers.

In a previous paper the effect of chemical pre-treatment on quality attributes of ‘Annurca’ apple slabs dried at different temperatures was investigated. Herein, we evaluated the effect of the same pre-treatment on the quality attributes of the same dried ‘Annurca’ apple samples rehydrated at two temperatures. Specifically, slabs were initially pre-treated in a dipping solution containing trehalose, sodium chloride, sucrose. Then, they were dried by using a convective dryer at 50°, 55°, 60°, and 65°C, and rehydrated at 30° and 70°C by immersion in water. The combination of pre-treatment, drying at 65°C and rehydration temperature of 30°C enabled to obtain the best preservation of rehydration indices (i.e, water absorption capacity), structure and colour properties. On the contrary, the highest antioxidant activity (EC50) in treated samples was found at the lowest drying temperatures (50° and 55°C) among those investigated and rehydration temperature of 30°C. The PCA provided different behaviours among untreated and treated dried apples when rehydrated at 30° and 70°C, demonstrating that this pre-treatment combined with drying/rehydration temperatures influenced the quality attributes of rehydrated samples.

The heat capacity of di-, tri- and tetramethylammonium lead iodide perovskites of general formula (CH3)(x)NH4-xPbI3 (where 2<x<4) has been determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) in the temperature range 289-473 K using the step-scan mode. Standard molar values C-p(0)(298 K) of di-, tri- and tetramethylammonium lead iodide perovskites were found to be: (285.2, 318.8 and 363.4) J K-1 mol(-1), respectively. Heat capacity data have been used to evaluate the thermodynamic functions of the three (CH3)(x)NH4-xPbI3 perovskites (entropy and enthalpy increment). Further DSC experiments were carried out simultaneously with thermogravimetry (TG) at constant heating rate (4 K min(-1)) to study the thermal behavior. The occurrence of a phase transition was detected in two of the three perovskites in well-defined temperature ranges and the corresponding transition temperatures (taken as the onset temperatures of the DSC peaks) resulted to be 346.6 K and 353.5 K for (CH3)(3)NHPbI3 and (CH3)(4)NPbI3, respectively. The three powder samples were also characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analyses.

Hydrogen refuelling stations carry the risk of hydrogen leakage from flanges, holes, broken pipes, etc., and the possibility of ignition is high due to the low minimum ignition energy of hydrogen. The length of these hydrogen jet flames may have an impact on damage and should be included in risk assessments. The risk assessment of typical hydrogen refuelling infrastructure is highly dependent on separation distances. These distances are estimated partially by jet flame lengths. The use of reliable physical models, engineering models, and risk analysis tools is hence required for safely operating this infrastructure. Generally, the physical models are adapted from hydrocarbon fuels, and they have to be validated for hydrogen especially in the range of operating pressures of FCEVs and refuelling infrastructures. To fill this gap, large scale hydrogen jet-fires tests were conducted in open space at various hydrogen pressures (up to 450 bar) and orifice diameters (1-5 mm). The jets were visualized by a thermal camera (up to 2000°C) and radiation flux sensors facing the jet at different distances were located. Results showed that the hydrogen flames can cover distances of about tens meters, and cause life-threatening conditions by the flame itself and thermal radiation.

The sustainability of the European Regions, in terms of society and economy and environment, is strongly based on renewable energy and resource efficiency. This implies the large scale deployment of nearly Zero – Energy Buildings (nZEBs). As well as the technology is already available and proven. However the diffusion of nZEB in Mediterranean areas is a challenge for the local market actors considering the short time. In this direction our research is oriented, proposing the case study of the first passive building in Putignano (Apulia). The goal is to observe the impact of the comfort setting on energy demand during the everyday life. This new approach aims at simultaneously considering both the energy performance and the comfort and health of the inhabitants. The case study includes the simulation model and the measuring campaign. It aims to verify if occupants of nZEB will be aware of the qualities of their home and learn to manage and monitor energy consumption independently. The concept is to observe the impact of comfort setting on energy demand during the everyday life in heating season of the passivhaus tenants.

A compact integrated unit for heating, cooling and mechanical controlled ventilation as a perfect solution for a Passivhaus certified multi-family building in Southern Italy (warm climate). An individual application for each apartment helping the single customer to achieve an autonomous control of each thermal parameters, reducing cost and installation plant’s complexity. The compact system consists of a heat pump capable of recovering the extraction air flow heat to transfer it to the renewal air flow and to a domestic hot water tank. The extraction and renewal flows, pass through a recovery heat exchanger with high efficiency, in order to maximize the energy performance of the whole unit. To cover peak loads, related to the climatic conditions and user behaviour, a split system unit is used for air conditioning by recirculate the internal air. The unit allows a thermal integration function, cooling and dehumidification. The treated supplementary air, is delivered to the rooms through a specific distribution and the internal unit is located in the ceiling in a central part of the flat. A control system permits the operation of both the units comparing the measured parameters to the required comfort set point.

An actual cost-effective approach to high performances building in the Mediterranean area has been still missing: this project was carried out applying the Passivhaus approach to several building solutions using PHPP 9. Integrated design approach made possible a cost-effective building: all the designers involved were forced to work together and PHPP was used as a design tool, starting in the very first phases of the process. The initial concept was unfortunately far from a simple form and there were a lots of thermal bridges. The majority of those were completely solved, however, we decided not to design a thermal-bridge-free detail in some cases, but simply minimize the impact of the losses and verify internal surface temperatures. Triple-pane for windows would have certainly minimize the heating demand, but a low-e double-pane is cheaper and also maximize the solar heat gains. In summer, solar gains would be a real problem in this climatic zone and for this reason shading systems were optimized to offer protection in summer and large gains in winter. The whole design process was simultaneously followed by real time energy calculations with PHPP as a design tool. A compact unit for each apartment provides ventilation, heating, cooling and hot water production. Really low heating and cooling demands made possible to heat and cool only with a post treatment after the recovery on the airflow.

The influence of an alternative chemical pretreatment on dehydration and rehydration of an Italian ecotype pumpkin was investigated. The pretreatment consisted of soaking the slices in a diluted solution of trehalose, sucrose and NaCl. Hot air-drying was performed in a convective dryer at temperatures of 55, 60, 65 and 70°C. Samples treated prior to drying showed a shorter (about 1/4) drying time, less volume shrinkage and colour changes, but showed higher rehydration capacity compared to untreated ones, especially in the range 55-65°C. Moreover, the pretreatment was effective in retention of total phenolic content and antioxidant activity. The Midilli model was the most appropriate for describing drying behaviour, while the Weibull model for rehydration.

In the preceding work, Brasiello et al. (2013) developed a mathematical model for eggplant's dehydration taking into account the shrinkage effects. Although the model provided good results in predicting the total water weight loss of slices, at that time, no information was given about the capability of predicting water content profiles inside the material. This is a very important issue in order to catch some fundamental aspects of dehydration with shrinkage. In this paper, we analyze the evolution of the water content profiles inside cylindrical samples of eggplant during dehydration using a mathematical model which takes into account shrinkage effects. In particular, we show the good agreement between numerical derived spatial profiles and the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data available in Literature. Model's parameters are calculated through a suitable simplified procedure, which uses experimental data from samples of a different shape. The numerical results are compared to those derived from the same procedure applied to Fick's diffusion equation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The main goal of SH2.0 is to create and define an innovative and technological infrastructure, as in Cloud environment, for the development of services necessary to the activation of new models in terms of health and wellness. In this context, the first proposal of SH2.0 is to enhance the life style of the citizens, starting from individual activities and adopting correct behaviors; the second aim regards the preventive health care feasible by institutional subjects (as, for example, Ministry of Health) which must be supported in the collection and analysis of data and information necessary to address specific actions and interventions for the early detection of diseases.

Measurements of flammability and explosion parameters for dust/air mixtures require uniform dispersion of the dust cloud inside the test vessel. In a previous work, we showed that, in the standard 20 L sphere, the dust injection system does not allow generation of a uniform cloud, but rather high gradients of dust concentration are established. In this work, we used a previously validated three-dimensional CFD model to simulate the dust dispersion inside the 20 L sphere at different dust nominal concentrations (and fixed dust diameter). Results of numerical simulations have shown that, as the dust nominal concentration is increased, sedimentation prevails and, thus, when ignition is provided, the dust is mainly concentrated at the vessel walls. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Two varieties of grapes, white grape and red grape grown in the Campania region of Italy were selected for the study of drying characteristics, moisture diffusion, quality changes (colour) and shrinkage behaviour. Comparisons were made with treated and untreated grapes under constant drying condition of 50o C in a conventional drying system. This temperature was selected to represent farm drying conditions. Grapes were purchased from a local market from the same supplier to maintain the same size of grapes and same properties. An abrasive physical treatment was used as pretreatment. The drying curves were constructed and drying kinetics was calculated using several commonly available models. It was found that treated samples shows better drying characteristics than untreated samples. The objective of this study is to obtain drying kinetics which can be used to optimize the drying operations in grape drying.

Different osmotic agents (OA), such as potassium acetate (CH3COOK), potassium carbonate (K2CO3) and ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), have been examined as alternatives to the traditionally used calcium chloride (CaCl2) for osmotic distillation concentrating of clarified and pre-concentrated sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) juice. Comparison of the process performances based on the permeate fluxes has been carried out. Regarding the permeate flux results, simplified estimation of the overall mass transfer coefficient of the most effective osmotic agent and the reference (CaCl2) solution has been also performed. Furthermore, analytical methods such as total antioxidant activity (TAA) and total polyphenolic content (TPC) using spectrophotometric assays have been also carried out to evaluate the effect of the osmotic distillation on the valuable compounds content of concentrated sour cherry juice. CH3COOK was found to be the most effective, resulted more than 25% higher permeate flux during the sour cherry juice concentration. K2CO3 and NH4NO3 were less effective. The simplified mass transfer estimation showed that the CH3COOK is more effective only at near saturated concentrations compared to the CaCl2. Regarding the TAA and TPC contents, a significant loss was found in case of all OAs during the concentration procedures.

In the present paper the following morpha of Fusinus rostratus (Olivi, 1792) (Gastropoda Fasciolariidae) were investigated: Atlantic, Central and Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Egadi Islands and the Sicilian Channel, Coasts of North Africa, the Central Adriatic Sea, Upper Adriatic Sea and the Venice Lagoon. Each of these morpha shows such morphological characteristics to be easily separated from the others. It is interesting to observe that the morphotype from the coast of Portugal is by far morphologically the closest to that from Northern Adriatic. A feature common to all the described morphotypes, is the presence of secondary cords, regularly spaced between the primary ones. The aim of this study is to split this species by geographical areas in order to facilitate further studies.

Powder products are frequently meet as dust mixtures in industrial processes. However the effect of mixing combustible dusts on the flammability and explosion behaviour of their mixture is still unclear. This work dealing with the explosibility and flammability of dust mixtures made of Nicotinic acid and Lycopodium. Explosion tests on the 20-L explosion vessel at different dust concentrations and relative amounts were performed. The two dusts showed the same minimum explosion concentration (MEC), but different explosibility parameters (K-St and P-max). The predominant influence of the most reactive compound (Nicotinic acid) on the explosibility of the dust mixture was found. This effect was not encountered for the minimum explosion concentration.

Preme iniziare ricordando che quella psichiatria che affonda le sue radici nei movimenti e le lotte che hanno caratterizzato gli anni ’60-’70 del secolo ormai trascorso, oltre che una precipua funzione politica e sociale di liberazione e di salvaguardia dei diritti delle persone nei confronti di istanze tendenti a riperpetuare pratiche di custodia, di violenza e di emarginazione, ha assunto anche la responsabilita tecnica di provvedere alla loro cura.

A CFD model was developed with the aim at simulating the turbulent flow field induced by dust feeding and dispersion within the 20 L bomb, and the associated effects on the distribution of dust concentration. The model was validated considering a set of data (pressure time histories and root mean square velocity) available in the literature. The time sequences of velocity vector and kinetic energy maps have shown that multiple turbulent vortex structures are established within the sphere. These vortices generate dead volumes for the dust which is pushed toward the walls of the sphere. The obtained results are relevant to the practice of dust explosion testing and the interpretation of test results and, then, they should be taken as reference to improve the conditions for standard tests. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 59: 2485–2496, 2013