Search results for "Life cycle"

Behavioural adaptations of argulid parasites (Crustacea: Branchiura) to major challenges in their life cycle.

2015

Fish lice (Argulus spp.) are obligate ectoparasites, which contrary to most aquatic parasites, retain the ability to swim freely throughout the whole of their life. In fish farms, they can quickly increase in numbers and without effective control cause argulosis, which results in the reduced growth and survival of their fish hosts. The morphology of Argulus spp, including their sensory organs, is suitable for both parasitism and free-swimming. By spending a considerable amount of time away from their host, these parasites risk being excessively dispersed, which could endanger mating success. Here we present a review of recent studies on the behaviour of Argulus spp, especially the aggregati…

Material Substitution for Automotive Applications: A Comparative Life Cycle Analysis

2012

Lightweight materials have become an important strategy in the automotive industry to enable vehicle weight reduction and reduce fuel consumption. However, when developing specific strategies, the overall benefits of any material should be analyzed throughout its life cycle to comprehend energy/environmental differences that arise during its processing and its final use. A key example is aluminum which despite having great potential in the use phase requires large amounts of energy to process. This paper provides a comparison between aluminum and steel utilizing a life-cycle approach. This approach reveals the importance of incorporating a recycling strategy to leverage aluminum’s low-weigh…

Transcriptome data reveal syndermatan relationships and suggest the evolution of endoparasitism in acanthocephala via an epizoic stage

2014

The taxon Syndermata comprises the biologically interesting wheel animals ("Rotifera": Bdelloidea + Monogononta + Seisonidea) and thorny-headed worms (Acanthocephala), and is central for testing superordinate phylogenetic hypotheses (Platyzoa, Gnathifera) in the metazoan tree of life. Recent analyses of syndermatan phylogeny suggested paraphyly of Eurotatoria (free-living bdelloids and monogononts) with respect to endoparasitic acanthocephalans. Data of epizoic seisonids, however, were absent, which may have affected the branching order within the syndermatan clade. Moreover, the position of Seisonidea within Syndermata should help in understanding the evolution of acanthocephalan endoparas…

Life cycle energy performances and environmental impacts of a prefabricated building module

2018

Abstract The paper explores the energy performances and environmental impacts of a prefabricated building module located in Messina (Sicily, Italy) through an approach that combines both the non-steady state building simulation and the Life Cycle Assessment methodology. The building uses renewable energy technologies and is usable in emergency situations or as simply temporary housing. Results show that the building module causes the emission of 1.5 t of CO2eq/m2 and consumes 29.2 GJ/m2 of primary energy during its life cycle. The building achieves the Net Zero Energy Building target even if it has relevant environmental impacts in the materials production stage (72% on average of the total…

Multi-objective optimization of building life cycle performance. A housing renovation case study in Northern Europe

2020

While the operational energy use of buildings is often regulated in current energy saving policies, their embodied greenhouse gas emissions still have a considerable mitigation potential. The study aims at developing a multi-objective optimization method for design and renovation of buildings incorporating the operational and embodied energy demands, global warming potential, and costs as objective functions. The optimization method was tested on the renovation of an apartment building in Denmark, mainly focusing envelope improvements as roof and exterior wall insulation and windows. Cellulose insulation has been the predominant result, together with fiber cement or aluminum-based cladding …

Artificial Neural Networks to assess energy and environmental performance of buildings: An Italian case study

2019

Abstract Approximately 40% of the European energy consumption and a large proportion of environmental impacts are related to the building sector. However, the selection of adequate and correct designs can provide considerable energy savings and reduce environmental impacts. To achieve this objective, a simultaneous energy and environmental assessment of a building's life cycle is necessary. To date, the resolution of this complex problem is entrusted to numerous software and calculation algorithms that are often complex to use. They involve long diagnosis phases and are characterised by the lack of a common language. Despite the efforts by the scientific community in the building sector, th…

Life cycle assessment of building materials: A comparison by electre methodology

1996

There is a growing awareness that in selection of building materials the designer must also consider environmnental impacts, either in global and local scale. Unfortunately, design community has an inadequate knowledge about the factors that affects environmental consequences of producing and operating buidings. To increase understanding on selection criteria and comparison of building alternatives in an “energy and environmental point of view”, is a significant goal for restraining gloabl enevironmental degradation. An interesting approach for assessing comparable products is the so called “multicriteria decision making”, but there is much debate about aggregation of criteria and weights a…

Life Cycle Assessment of Asphalt Mixtures with WMR

2023

This study aimed at providing pavement specialists with international average values of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and energy consumption related to the manufacturing of asphalt mixtures (cradle-to-gate), with and without waste and secondary materials for roads (WMRs). In order to achieve this goal, TG leaders first referred to current standards to define a methodology for obtaining benchmark values according to ISO 21678:2020. Then, a data collection tool was designed and provided to a group of international partners to build a life cycle inventory for asphalt mixtures including data from materials up to plant manufacturing (A1–A3). Partners were asked to provide information for any ty…

MULTI-OBJECTIVE OPTIMISATION OF BUILDINGS AND BUILDING CLUSTERS PERFORMANCE: A LIFE CYCLE THINKING APPROACH

2021

Tick-borne pathogens in Ixodes ricinus ticks collected from migratory birds in southern Norway

2020

Birds are important hosts for the first life stages of the Ixodes ricinus tick and they can transport their parasites over long distances. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Neoehrlichia mikurensis and Rickettsia helvetica in ticks collected from migratory birds in Norway. A total of 815 Ixodes ricinus ticks from 216 birds trapped at Lista Bird Observatory in southern Norway during spring and autumn migration in 2008 were analysed by real-time PCR. B. burgdorferi s. l. was the most prevalent pathogen, detected in 6.1% of the ticks. The prevalence of N. mikurensis, A. phagocytophilum and R. helvetica was 1.2%…