Search results for "aggregate"
showing 10 items of 287 documents
Optimal design of CHCP plants in the civil sector by Thermoeconomics
2007
The optimization of design and operation of trigeneration plants for civil applications is a very complex task, because of the large number of internal and external variables affecting the energetic and economic results that may be achieved. Further, energy-saving and profit-oriented optimization processes usually lead to different solutions, in terms of plant lay-out, optimal size of components and operation strategy. Thermoeconomic methodologies are very effective theoretical structures for the optimization of industrial energy-systems characterised by regular energy-demand profiles; however, they are hard to use when approaching civil applications and energy systems in unsteady operating…
The impact of mandatory vaccination law in Italy on mmr coverage rates in two of the largest italian regions (Emilia-romagna and sicily): An effectiv…
2020
Background: Vaccine hesitancy has increased worldwide, leading to reduction in vaccination coverage rates. In particular, reduction in the coverage for the trivalent Measles-Mumps-Rubella vaccine has led to an increase of measles cases. The aim of this study is to analyze the coverage rates for the MMR vaccine in the Emilia-Romagna Region (RER) and Sicily Region (SR) between 2009 and 2018, and to correlate any significant change to index events which could have modified the trend of vaccination rates. Methods: Official aggregate data on vaccination coverage at 24 months provided by the RER and the SR were analyzed through trend analysis and related to important index events. Results: The tw…
Scaling laws of strategic behavior and size heterogeneity in agent dynamics
2008
The dynamics of many socioeconomic systems is determined by the decision making process of agents. The decision process depends on agent's characteristics, such as preferences, risk aversion, behavioral biases, etc.. In addition, in some systems the size of agents can be highly heterogeneous leading to very different impacts of agents on the system dynamics. The large size of some agents poses challenging problems to agents who want to control their impact, either by forcing the system in a given direction or by hiding their intentionality. Here we consider the financial market as a model system, and we study empirically how agents strategically adjust the properties of large orders in orde…
Quarry limestone dust as fine aggregate for concrete
2018
In quarrying activities, rock is extracted and transformed into aggregate of various sizes for civil engineering applications. In this process waste fine aggregates (dust waste) are generated. The disposal of this type of waste is a further cost in the extraction process, but also a possible cause of environmental pollution (e.g. leaching into water reserves, atmospheric pollution as a result of small particles causing respiratory diseases or deposited on plants disrupting photosynthesis, affecting aquatic habitats, etc.). A strategy for the effective recycling of quarry dust does not only reduce waste generation and disposal, but also addresses protection of the environment. The Italian qu…
An aggregate AQI: comparing different standardizations and introducing a variability index
2012
Many studies demonstrate a strong relationship between air pollution and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. For this reason, assessing air pollution, and conveying information about its possible adverse health effects, may encourage population and policy makers to reduce those activities increasing pollution levels. In this paper a relative index of variability, to be associated with the aggregate Air Quality Index (AQI) among pollutants proposed by Ruggieri and Plaia (2011), is developed in order to better investigate air pollution conditions for the whole area of a city/region. The most widely-used and up to date pollution indices, based mainly on AQI computed by the US Environmenta…
J-aggregates prepared by adsorption at monolayer/water interfaces
1991
By adsorption of anionic cyanine dyes at positivly charged lipid monolayers large J-aggregates are formed. Absorption and fluorescence spectra are measured at the air/water interface during the crystallization process. The influence of the lipid/dye interaction on the aggregate structure is studied for two different systems. It is shown that the aggregate structure can be improved by growing crystals from a seed.
Possibilistic Programming and Gas for Aggregate Production Planning under Vague Information
1999
In production planning activities, aggregate planning is surely the phase where the lack of information is more relevant. The reasons for that can be summarised in: a) the planning product is an aggregate one, very often not corresponding to actual products; b) the delay from the actual production is relevant so that information regarding actual production resources availability and performances are vague; c) the planning activity is often based on forecasts. On the other hand, all the subsequent production planning activities are based on the result of aggregate planning. In the paper a research going on at the Workgroup for Soft Computing Application in Manufacturing is presented. A Decis…
Thioflavin T templates amyloid β(1–40) conformation and aggregation pathway
2015
Aβ(1-40) peptide supramolecular assembly and fibril formation processes are widely recognized to have direct implications in the progression of Alzheimer's disease. The molecular basis of this biological process is still unknown and there is a strong need of developing effective strategies to control the occurring events. To this purpose the exploitation of small molecules interacting with Aβ aggregation represents one of the possible routes. Moreover, the use specific labeling has represented so far one of the most common and effective methods to investigate such a process. This possibility in turn rests on the reliability of the probe/labels involved. Here we present evidences of the effe…
Complementarity between human capital and public infrastructure in industrial comparative advantage
2021
The article examines the role of public capital as an infrastructure service in the acquisition of industrial comparative advantages. To achieve this in this framework, we develop a theoretical model highlighting the complementarity between public and human capital as a mechanism of industrial development, and test this idea using sectoral panel data from 1999 to 2014 across 35 advanced and less advanced countries. Our results show that the sustainable acquisition of a comparative advantage in the production of industrial goods can only be guaranteed by accumulating public capital and human capital. It shows that public infrastructure can only generate industrialization when it is made avai…
From Buildings' End of Life to Aggregate Recycling under a Circular Economic Perspective: A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment Case Study
2021
The demolition of buildings, apart from being energy intensive and disruptive, inevitably produces construction and demolition waste (C&Dw). Unfortunately, even today, the majority of this waste ends up underexploited and not considered as valuable resources to be re-circulated into a closed/open loop process under the umbrella of circular economy (CE). Considering the amount of virgin aggregates needed in civil engineering applications, C&Dw can act as sustainable catalyst towards the preservation of natural resources and the shift towards a CE. This study completes current research by presenting a life cycle inventory compilation and life cycle assessment case study of two buildin…