Search results for "Islands"
showing 10 items of 373 documents
Alternative energy storage options for heat pump water heater coupled with photovoltaic plant for domestic hot water production
2019
The present work relies on the topic of energy storage for Heat and Electricity applied to Heat Pump Water Heaters coupled with photovoltaic plants for Domestic Hot Water production. The main idea is to evaluate the possibility to exploit the water tank as heat storage for the produced photovoltaic energy and, where appropriate combined with electrical storage. For this reason, two heat pumps with different volume size have been chosen and smart control strategies have been applied while monitoring the water temperature in the tank. Calculations account on tapping profile inferred from monitored data of a representative end-user in a Mediterranean small island. Results show how the combinat…
“Splendid Isolation”: embracing islandness in a global pandemic
2022
Islandness is often considered to be a disadvantage. However, it has helped the residents of islands to delay, deter, and, in some cases, totally insulate themselves from COVID-19. While islanders have been quick to lock themselves down, this has had a tremendous impact on their connectivity and on tourism, which in many cases is their major economic sector. Yet, the association of islands with being safe, “COVID-19 free” zones has helped these spaces to be among the first destinations to restart the tourism economy once travel restrictions were lifted. After several weeks of lockdown, and with the COVID-19 threat still looming, social distancing remained the norm. Travellers we…
A New Species of the Genus Crenubiotus (Tardigrada: Eutardigrada: Adorybiotidae) from Salt Spring Island, Strait of Georgia, British Columbia (Canada)
2022
Currently, the recently erected genus Crenubiotus (Adorybiotidae, Macrobiotoidea) includes only three species, all of which are characterised by dentate lunulae and cuticular tubercules organised in the band in the dorso-caudal part of the body. By means of integrative taxonomy, we describe a fourth species of the genus: Crenubiotus salishani sp. nov., from Salt Spring Island in British Columbia, Canada. The new species has been found in the moss growing on rock and differs from the other species in the genus due to the presence of a median anterior mucrone in the third band of the oral cavity armature (OCA) and by the presence of evident thickenings on the eggshell connecting the neighbour…
Environmental effects of tourism and its seasonality on Mediterranean islands: the contribution of the Interreg MED BLUEISLANDS project to build up a…
2020
AbstractThe Mediterranean basin is amongst the world’s main tourist destination, and its islands are a major attraction, being sites of historical, cultural and naturalistic importance. This is beneficial for the local economies, but it may also represent a great burden on the coastal environment, where other human pressures are concentrated. The awareness of detrimental side effects of tourism together with the importance to take into account social and economic facets has led to the concept of sustainable tourism, which, however, represents a goal far from being attained. A good opportunity to promote sustainable tourism was provided by the Interreg MED BLUEISLANDS project, whose main aim…
Enhanced dendritic cell maturation by TNF-alpha or cytidine-phosphate-guanosine DNA drives T cell activation in vitro and therapeutic anti-tumor immu…
2000
Abstract Dendritic cells (DC) manipulated ex vivo can induce tumor immunity in experimental murine tumor models. To improve DC-based tumor vaccination, we studied whether DC maturation affects the T cell-activating potential in vitro and the induction of tumor immunity in vivo. Maturation of murine bone marrow-derived DC was induced by GM-CSF plus IL-4 alone or by further addition of TNF-α or a cytidine-phosphate-guanosine (CpG)-containing oligonucleotide (ODN-1826), which mimics the immunostimulatory effect of bacterial DNA. Flow cytometric analysis of costimulatory molecules and MHC class II showed that DC maturation was stimulated most by ODN-1826, whereas TNF-α had an intermediate effec…
Efficient homologous prime-boost strategies for T cell vaccination based on virus-like particles.
2005
Induction of high frequencies of specific T cells by vaccination requires prime-boost regimens. To reach optimal immune responses, it is necessary to use different vectors for priming and boosting as e.g. DNA vaccination followed by boosting with a recombinant viral vector. Here, we show that vaccines based on virus-like particles (VLP) displaying peptide epitopes are equally effective to induce CTL responses if used in a homologous or heterologous prime-boost setting. Strikingly, high frequencies (>20% of CD8(+) cells) of protective CTL could be induced and maintained by weekly injection of VLP. Thus, the use of VLP may avoid the requirement for complicated heterologous prime-boost regi…
An original control strategy of storage systems for the frequency stability of autonomous grids with renewable power generation
2021
This work examines the operation of the autonomous power system of a geographical island assuming the integration of significant generation shares from renewable energy sources and the installation of the required storage systems. The frequency stability of the system is investigated considering different operating conditions, in terms of load demand and renewable power generation. The main focus of the work is an original control strategy specifically designed for power converters interfacing storage units to the grid. The proposed strategy is based on an extended frequency droop control, which selects specific droop settings depending on the operating mode—charge or discharge—of the stora…
Demand Response for Integrating Photovoltaic Plants in Lampedusa Island
2021
This paper presents the results of a simulation study concerning different Demand Response logics applied to Electric Storage Water Heaters on the island of Lampedusa. Electric Storage Water Heaters are the devices that are primarily used on the island to produce domestic hot water. Starting from measured load profiles collected in Lampedusa, a domestic hot water consumption profile was derived, to simulate the energy usage of the Storage Water Electric Heaters during the day. This work was carried out as a preliminary feasibility study for the BloRin project, financed by cohesion funds in the Sicilian region. According to the project, which also includes the installation of domestic photov…
Intermediate hosts of Angiostrongylus cantonensis in Tenerife, Spain.
2015
The nematode Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the causative agent of human angiostrongy- liasis, the main clinical manifestation of which is eosinophilic meningitis. Although this para- site has been found recently in its definitive rat host in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain), showing a widespread distribution over the north-east part of the island, there are no avail- able data regarding which snail and/or slug species are acting as intermediate hosts on this island. Consequently, the objective of this work was to determine the possible role of three mollusc species, Plutonia lamarckii , Cornu aspersum and Theba pisana , as intermediate hosts of A . cantonensis in Tenerife. Between 2011 and…
Narrativa dei Caraibi nel nuovo millennio
2020
L’etichetta “Letterature franco-caraibica” utilizzata, per convenzione, dalla critica per indicare unitariamente la produzione letteraria in lingua francese della regione centrale del Continente americano è assai impropria. La regione dei Caraibi abbraccia, infatti, sia alcune delle isole dell’arcipelago delle Piccole Antille (Martinica, Guadalupa), sia l’isola di Haïti, che fa parte delle Grandi Antille, che la Guiana incastonata sulla costa orientale dell’America meridionale. Pur nella diversità dei movimenti ideologici e degli avvenimenti storici che si sono succeduti nella regione, le opere letterarie degli scrittori caraibici francofoni, nel loro insieme, hanno oscillato, e continuano …