Application of PestLCI model to site-specific soil and climate conditions: the case of maize production in Northern Italy

The calculation of emissions from the use of pesticides is a critical issue in LCA studies of agrifood products and only occasionally discussed in details in literature studies. The objective of this study is to assess the results of the application of PestLCI 2.0 model to the production of maize in Northern Italy using site-specific soil and climate data, which were added for this purpose in PestLCI database. In this way, the application of the tool and its database were tailored to that area. Moreover, the results were compared with those obtained assuming maize cultivation on other soil typologies in the surrounding areas. Results show that soil variation scarcely affects the emissions to air and surface water are whereas it affects significantly the emissions to groundwater. Finally, some features of PestLCI were highlighted and comments for a further improvement of the model were provided

Inefficiencies reduction in the probe head productive unit of Technoprobe

LAUREA MAGISTRALELa tesi propone di descrivere il percorso che il nostro team ha compiuto per realizzare un progetto riguardante l'utilizzo degli strumenti e delle conoscenze teoriche acquisite durante il nostro percorso di studio magistrale in Industrial Management/Management Engineering presso il Politecnico di Milano. In particolare riguarda l'applicazione dei principi Lean per ridurre le inefficienze nella unità produttiva “Probe Head ” presso l'azienda Technoprobe. Abbiamo tenuto il kick-off meeting iniziale il 28 ottobre; successivamente a causa della pandemia il progetto è stato iniziato un mese dopo, questo posteriormente alla frequenza alternata ai corsi di formazione nei vari reparti aziendali. Il progetto è stato complessivamente terminato il 26 febbraio. Durante le diverse fasi del progetto abbiamo utilizzato il Thinking A3, Microsoft Excel, Visual Basic, Windows Presentation Foundation, Value Stream Map, Gemba Walk, il metodo aldep, l'analisi di Pareto, Minitab e l'analisi della variabilità. Per l'avanzamento del progetto è stata essenziale l'esperienza e le nozioni del tutor aziendale, del tutor metodologico, docente del corso di Industrial Management ed inoltre la conoscenza e l'attitudine pratica degli operatori del reparto Probe Head Front End. Il progetto si sviluppa seguendo passo a passo la struttura dello strumento A3. Il risultato è una riduzione dei tempi di consegna del 3,18% e una riduzione del costo del lavoro di 101.000 € in un anno, questo considerando solo le contromisure incrementali. Complessivamente si prevede che questi numeri aumentino significativamente dopo l'implementazione e l'uso continuativo delle contromisure radicali, esempio tra queste il cambiamento del layout interno che richiederà una quantità piuttosto considerevole di investimenti e modifiche al personale del reparto per far fronte alla domanda crescente. Il tutor aziendale e il capo del dipartimento sono stato molto soddisfatti dei risultati poiché le contromisure introdotte sono state considerate pratiche e di utilità per le loro attività quotidiane in reparto. Oltre a questi risultati, è degno di nota ricordare che attraverso la regolare implementazione degli strumenti sviluppati, Technoprobe sarà in grado di acquisire un numero maggiore di ordini dai clienti. Questo considerando come premessa la stessa disponibilità di macchine e strumentazione, poiché questi sThe thesis aims to describe the path that our team has completed over the last few months to carry out a project that is about using the tools and theoretical knowledge that we obtained during our master studies in Industrial Management/Management Engineering at Politecnico di Milano. In particular it regards the application of Lean principles to reduce the inefficiencies in the “Probe Head Productive Unit” in Technoprobe. We held the kick-off meeting on 28th of October; due to the pandemic we have started a month later after attending the training in all the departments alternately. We finished the project on 26th of February. To develop the project, we exploited the A3 Thinking, Microsoft Excel, Visual Basic, Windows Presentation Foundation, Value Stream Map, Gemba Walk, Pareto Analysis, Minitab, Variability Analysis, expertise of the company and methodological tutor, professor of the Industrial Management course and eventually the knowledge and experience of the operators in the Probe Head Front End department. The project is developed in the A3 framework structure. The result is a reduction of lead time by 3.18% and labor cost reduction of 101,000€ in a year considering only the incremental countermeasures, while these numbers are expected to become a lot more after the implementation and continuous usage of the radical countermeasures as one of them is a structural change that will need rather considerable amount of investment. The company tutor and head of the department was very happy with the results since the countermeasures introduced have been considered quite useful for their day-to-day operations. Apart from these, it is noteworthy to mention that through the regular implementation of the tools Technoprobe will be able to win more customer orders since the tools will help to reduce the possible delays and problems in the production

O Trabalho dos Psicólogos do Tribunal de Justiça do Espírito Santo do Ponto de Vista da Atividade

Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo colocar em análise a atividade dos psicólogos que atuam nas Centrais de Apoio Multidisciplinar do Tribunal de Justiça do Espírito Santo. Este estudo prestou-se também a acompanhar as estratégias e ações protagonísticas que esses trabalhadores estão implementando e compartilhando entre si, reformulando a organização do trabalho nas Centrais e no próprio Tribunal. Daí o porquê de fazermos essa pesquisa do ponto de vista da atividade. Os principais intercessores teóricos convocados a fomentarem as análises foram Yves Clot e Christophe Dejours, assim como as contribuições de Michael Foucault. Como estratégia metodológica para a produção de dados, optamos por uma postura baseada na cartografia, onde tentamos acompanhar processos, movimentos e intensidades dos sujeitos. Para isso, foram realizadas 04 entrevistas com psicólogos das Centrais de Cariacica, Serra, Vila Velha e Vitória, gravadas e posteriormente transcritas. Essas entrevistas foram possibilitadas a partir de um roteiro que teve como funcionalidade, variar a conversa com as profissionais sobre tópicos mais estruturais que versavam sobre o serviço, seu cotidiano e práticas desenvolvidas. O roteiro abordou assuntos relativos a finalidade da Central de Apoio Multidisciplinar, a questão da autonomia dos trabalhadores para organizar suas ações no trabalho, sobre espaços de construção e compartilhamento de saberes e estratégias de trabalho, entre outras questões. Percebeu-se a partir das análises, que os psicólogos que atuam nas Centrais acrescentam algo de si às prescrições, criam espaços de discussão e de compartilhamento de estratégias de trabalho, voltam suas atenções ao cuidado com a vida e esmeram-se em desenvolver um trabalho bem-feito

Efficacia degli approci terapeutici utilizzati nel trattamento della capsulite adesiva di spalla: una revisione sistematica di studi randomizzati controllati

Background: La capsulite adesiva è una condizione infiammatoria caratterizzata da rigidità e dolore della spalla. Il trattamento dovrebbe essere in prima istanza conservativo; in alcuni casi è accompagnato da iniezioni intrarticolari e/o interventi chirurgici. Obiettivo: Indagare gli studi primari che valutino l’efficacia dei vari approcci terapeutici fisioterapici utilizzati in questa patologia, verificandone la qualità e fornendo una sintesi qualitativa delle evidenze disponibili in letteratura. Metodo: Da novembre 2022 a marzo 2023 è stata condotta una revisione sistematica rispettando le linee guida PERSiST per rispondere al quesito di ricerca: “Quali sono le prove di efficacia a favore della riabilitazione nei pazienti affetti da capsulite adesiva di spalla?” setacciando la letteratura disponibile sulle banche dati Embase, PubMed, PEDro, Scopus e CINHAL. Sono stati inclusi solo gli studi randomizzati controllati (Randomized Controlled Trials – RCT), il cui campione era costituito da adulti con frozen shoulder sottoposti ad interventi fisioterapici. Risultati: Nella revisione sistematica sono stati inclusi 7 RCT che indagano gli effetti di vari approcci nell’ambito della terapia manuale e dell’esercizio terapeutico nel trattamento della frozen shoulder. Mediante la “PEDro scale” è stata valutata la qualità metodologica degli articoli inclusi, risultata alta (≥6) per 4 articoli e bassa per i restanti 3. Quasi tutti gli studi hanno mostrato miglioramenti in termini di dolore, ROM e funzione. Conclusioni: Gli studi revisionati hanno evidenziato un’effettiva valenza dell’esercizio terapeutico e della terapia manuale nella velocizzazione dei tempi di recupero, nella riduzione del dolore, nonché nell’ottimizzazione del ripristino di mobilità articolare e funzione. Tuttavia, i risultati ottenuti non sono sufficienti a determinare il miglior approccio alla patologia nelle sue varie fasi, rendendo quindi necessari ulteriori studi

Analisi del moto proprio degli AGN 3C84, 0336-019 e 3C111

La tesi è sostanzialmente divisa in due parti. La prima definisce e descrive i nuclei galattici attivi (AGN), le loro proprietà e morfologia e i fenomeni fisici relativi alla propagazione dei getti come moti superluminali, doppler factor e doppler boosting. Viene anche definita la teoria del modello unificato che mette in relazione le diverse categorie di AGN in rapporto all'angolo di osservazione. La seconda parte si occupa dell'analisi di moto proprio nei getti di tre diversi AGN: 3C84, 0336-019 e 3C111. Dopo un'introduzione alla tecnica VLBI utilizzata dalla Boston University per ottenere i dati, vengono descritte le tecniche usate per l'analisi dati. Per ciascuna sorgente è stata misurata la distanza delle principali componenti dal nucleo e le velocità di ciascuna di esse in un specifico arco di tempo. Utilizzando l'angolo θ di inclinazione rispetto alla linea di vista, nota da lavori di letteratura, è stata stimata anche la velocità effettiva del getto e comunque il θ max di ogni sorgente usando come limite di velocità del getto la velocità della luce

Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease: Extrarenal Involvement

: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common hereditary kidney disorder, but kidneys are not the only organs involved in this systemic disorder. Individuals with the condition may display additional manifestations beyond the renal system, involving the liver, pancreas, and brain in the context of cystic manifestations, while involving the vascular system, gastrointestinal tract, bones, and cardiac valves in the context of non-cystic manifestations. Despite kidney involvement remaining the main feature of the disease, thanks to longer survival, early diagnosis, and better management of kidney-related problems, a new wave of complications must be faced by clinicians who treated patients with ADPKD. Involvement of the liver represents the most prevalent extrarenal manifestation and has growing importance in the symptom burden and quality of life. Vascular abnormalities are a key factor for patients' life expectancy and there is still debate whether to screen or not to screen all patients. Arterial hypertension is often the earliest onset symptom among ADPKD patients, leading to frequent cardiovascular complications. Although cardiac valvular abnormalities are a frequent complication, they rarely lead to relevant problems in the clinical history of polycystic patients. One of the newest relevant aspects concerns bone disorders that can exert a considerable influence on the clinical course of these patients. This review aims to provide the "state of the art" among the extrarenal manifestation of ADPKD

Environmentally Friendly Tools for the Removal of Emerging Pollutants from Natural Matrices

In this work of thesis are contained four different projects on sustainable remediation techniques for the decontamination of natural matrices have been developed and valued. The original intent shared by these projects is to develop innovative solutions for emerging pollution cases. Porous synthetic silica materials, commonly used in catalysis, have been studied, valued and adapted for use in pollutant decontamination. In the first project, synthetic high silica faujasite used for antibiotics sorption from waste waters was tested for regenerability and its reuse after solvent desorption or thermal regeneration. The tested high silica Y has been regenerated with thermal treatments; the most effective (and less costing) temperature and treatment time was determined and the regenerated zeolite was successfully reused. Another successful option, solvent desorption, was also validated. In the second project, mineral oil contamination of recycled paper and paperboard – with particular attention to food-contact paperboard – was accounted. A hydrocarbon-specific sorbent material was developed, suitable to be used during industrial processes of paper recovery and recycling. The material, capable to retain up to 184% of its dry weight, was a modified mesoporous silica. Its capacity to adsorb and retain hydrocarbons from highly wet pulp were successfully tested in a pilot-scale plant, and the utilization of the said material was patented. In the third project, a mild sediment washing technique in order to remove Cu and Zn from a contaminated sediment of a land reclamation consortium canal. In the study presented the treatment efficacy to remove heavy metals is assessed, as well as an aggregate structural stability evaluation post-treatment. In conclusion, a multidisciplinary project on humic substances is introduced. Humic substances have been chemically grafted onto silica gel, in order to exploit their sorbent capacity to retain pollutants, or facilitate their degradation in water solutions

Effect of the Growing Season, Trichoderma, and Clinoptilolite Application on Potentially Toxic Elements Uptake by Cucumis melo L

The extent to which different agricultural strategies may affect the uptake of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) by cropped plants is not entirely understood at a field scale. This study addresses the effect of seasonality, Trichoderma inoculation alone, or combined with different applications of commercial-grade clinoptilolite (i.e., foliar action, fertigation, and pellet) on the PTE content of early- and late-ripening cultivars of Cucumis melo L. Two similar field experiments were performed in spring and summer. For each cultivar/treatment combination, the input of PTEs [namely, chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb)] into the soil-crop system through irrigation water, fertilizers, pesticides, and treatment products (i.e., Trichoderma and clinoptilolite products), as well as the PTE content of melon stem, leaves, and fruit, were measured through inductively coupled plasma-optic emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Neither Trichoderma alone nor with clinoptilolite had a visible effect on PTE uptake by plants, whereas early season cultivation was strongly associated with reduced uptake of Cu and Pb. The high correlation of Cu and Pb content with stem and leaf calcium (Ca) content (used as a proxy for different transpiration rates under different growing seasons) indicated a possible uptake of these metals through Ca nonselective cation channels as a defense against drought stress. Reduced Cu and Pb concentrations were found in early-ripening fruit cultivated in spring. Concerning Cu and Pb risk management, in case of significant contamination in Mediterranean calcareous soils, early-ripening Cucumis melo L. cultivars are suggested instead of lateripening ones

A Prolog application for reasoning on maths puzzles with diagrams

open5noDespite the indisputable progresses of artificial intelligence, some tasks that are rather easy for a human being are still challenging for a machine. An emblematic example is the resolution of mathematical puzzles with diagrams. Sub-symbolical approaches have proven successful in fields like image recognition and natural language processing, but the combination of these techniques into a multimodal approach towards the identification of the puzzle’s answer appears to be a matter of reasoning, more suitable for the application of a symbolic technique. In this work, we employ logic programming to perform spatial reasoning on the puzzle’s diagram and integrate the deriving knowledge into the solving process. Analysing the resolution strategies required by the puzzles of an international competition for humans, we draw the design principles of a Prolog reasoning library, which interacts with image processing software to formulate the puzzle’s constraints. The library integrates the knowledge from different sources, and relies on the Prolog inference engine to provide the answer. This work can be considered as a first step towards the ambitious goal of a machine autonomously solving a problem in a generic context starting from its textual-graphical presentation. An ability that can help potentially every human–machine interaction.openBuscaroli, Riccardo; Chesani, Federico; Giuliani, Giulia; Loreti, Daniela; Mello, PaolaBuscaroli, Riccardo; Chesani, Federico; Giuliani, Giulia; Loreti, Daniela; Mello, Paol

The Long-Term Experiment Platform for the Study of Agronomical and Environmental Effects of the Biochar: Methodological Framework

In this communication, a wide overview of historical Long-Term Experimental Platforms (LTEP) regarding changes in soil organic matter is presented for the purpose of networking, data sharing, experience sharing and the coordinated design of experiments in the area of Earth system science. This serves to introduce a specific platform of experiments regarding biochar application to soil (LTEP-BIOCHAR) and its use for agronomic and environmental purposes (e.g., carbon sequestration, soil erosion, soil biodiversity) in real conditions and over a significative timeframe for pedosphere dynamics. The methodological framework, including the goals, geographical scope and eligibility rules of such a new platform, is discussed. Currently, the LTEP-BIOCHAR is the first of its kind, a community-driven resource dedicated to biochar, and displays around 20 long-term experiments from Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The selected field experiments take place under dynamically, meteorologically and biologically different conditions. The purposes of the platform are (1) listing the field experiments that are currently active, (2) uncovering methodological gaps in the current experiments and allowing specific metadata analysis, (3) suggesting the testing of new hypotheses without unnecessary duplications while establishing a minimum standard of analysis and methods to make experiments comparable, (4) creating a network of expert researchers working on the agronomical and environmental effects of biochar, (5) supporting the design of coordinated experiments and (6) promoting the platform at a wider international level