Guidelines and recommendations for indoor use of fuel cells and hydrogen systems

Hydrogen energy applications often require that systems are used indoors (e.g., industrial trucks for materials handling in a warehouse facility, fuel cells located in a room, or hydrogen stored and distributed from a gas cabinet). It may also be necessary or desirable to locate some hydrogen system components/equipment inside indoor or outdoor enclosures for security or safety reasons, to isolate them from the end-user and the public, or from weather conditions.Using of hydrogen in confined environments requires detailed assessments of hazards and associated risks, including potential risk prevention and mitigation features. The release of hydrogen can potentially lead to the accumulation of hydrogen and the formation of a flammable hydrogen-air mixture, or can result in jet-fires. Within Hyindoor European Project, carried out for the EU Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking safety design guidelines and engineering tools have been developed to prevent and mitigate hazardous consequences of hydrogen release in confined environments. Three main areas are considered: Hydrogen release conditions and accumulation, vented deflagrations, jet fires and including under-ventilated flame regimes (e.g., extinguishment or oscillating flames and steady burns). Potential RCS recommendations are also identified.     

Weissella cibaria short-fermented liquid sourdoughs based on quinoa or amaranth flours as fat replacer in focaccia bread formulation

Production of the traditional Italian Focaccia bread (FcBread) requires reformulation to meet the new rules for healthier foods. We tested the applicability of a short-fermented (15 h) liquid sourdough (LS) (dough yield, DY, 250), obtained using quinoa (Q) or amaranth (Am) flour fermented with a Weissella cibaria strain (C43-11) producing exopolysaccharides (EPS) as fat replacer in yeast-leavened FcBread. The LSs were applied during the FcBread-making process at industrial pilot plant, reducing the added fat amount by 20% (FcBread-QLS and FcBread-AmLS) and products were compared with reference samples not containing EPS. All the products were analysed for physico-chemical properties (pH, TTA, organic acids, protein content and profile, instrumental colour), textural properties, sensory quality and glycemic index. The application of both pseudo-cereal-based W. cibaria LSs in FcBread allowed obtaining products with a reduced amount of fat, increased protein amount, mainly due to the albumin and glutenin/glutelin fractions, reduced glycemic index, improved texture and preserved in the traditional sensory profile of ‘focaccia’.     

Design and manufacturing of anti-intrusion bars made of aluminium foam filled tubes

The role of an anti-intrusion bar for automotive use is to absorb the kinetic energy of the colliding vehicles that is partially converted into internal work of the members involved in the crash. The aim of this paper is to investigate the performances of anti-intrusion bars, made by tubes filled with aluminium foams. The reason for using a cellular material as a filler deals with its capacity to absorb energy during plastic deformation, while being lightweight. The study is mainly conducted by evaluating some key technical issues of the manufacturing problem and by running experimental and numerical analyses. The evaluation of materials and shapes of the closed sections to be filled is made in the perspective of a car manufacturer (production costs, weight reduction, space availability in a car door, etc.). Experimentally, foams are produced starting from an industrial aluminium precursor with a TiH₂ blowing agent. Empty and foam filled tubes are tested in three point bending, in order to evaluate their performances in terms of several performance parameters. Different manufacturing conditions, geometries and tube materials are investigated. The option of using hydroformed tubes, with non constant cross section, for the production of foam filled side structures id also discussed.     

Study of the effect of processing conditions on the co‐injection of PBS/PBAT and PTT/PBT blends for parts with increased bio‐content

This work studies the effect of processing parameters on mechanical properties and material distribution of co‐injected polymer blends within a complex mold shape. A partially bio‐sourced blend of poly(butylene terephthalate) and poly(trimethylene terephthalate) PTT/PBT was used for the core, with a tough biodegradable blend of poly (butylene succinate) and poly (butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) PBS/PBAT for the skin. A ½ factorial design of experiments is used to identify significant processing parameters from skin and core melt temperatures, injection speed and pressure, and mold temperature. Interactions between the processing effects are considered, and the resulting statistical data produced accurate linear models indicating that the co‐injection of the two blends can be controlled. Impact strength of the normally brittle PTT/PBT blend is shown to increase significantly with co‐injection and variations in core to skin volume ratios to have a determining role in the overall impact strength. Scanning electron microscope images were taken of co‐injected tensile samples with the PBS/PBAT skin dissolved displaying variations of mechanical interlocking occurring between the two blends. © 2014 The Authors Journal of Applied Polymer Science Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41278.     

Flexible aliphatic poly(isocyanurate–oxazolidone) resins based on poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether and 4,4′‐methylene dicyclohexyl diisocyanate

New flexible aliphatic oxazolidone‐isocyanurate networks (AISOX) are obtained by reacting a low molecular weight diisocyanate (4,4′‐methylene dicyclohexyl diisocyanate, H₁₂MDI) and a macro‐diepoxyde (poly(ethylene glycol) diglycidyl ether, M_n = 526, PEGDGE) in different molar ratio. The curing reaction, carried out from 25 °C to 200 °C, is studied by using DSC and FTIR. The effect of the molar ratio of the two monomers on thermal and mechanical properties of AISOX resins is investigated by DSC, thermogravimetric analysis, stress?strain measurements and optical microscopy. Independently from the feed composition, it is observed that the reaction steps are: (i) partial hydrolysis of isocyanate caused by water traces, (ii) incomplete trimerization of isocyanate to give isocyanurate, and (iii) formation of oxazolidone and complete conversion of isocyanate. At the highest concentration of the soft macrodiepoxyde (PEGDGE), the AISOX resin is in the rubbery state at room temperature and shows an elastomeric behavior. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43404.     

A monolithically integrated high‐efficiency Cu(In,Ga)Se2 mini‐module structured solely by laser

Monolithically integrated Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ mini‐modules were fabricated in order to reduce the width of patterning related dead area. The Cu(In,Ga)Se₂ layers were prepared on soda‐lime glasses using the multistage process at low substrate temperature below 500 °C. A picosecond laser with a wavelength of 532 nm was used for all of the structuring processes (P1, P2, and P3) for the monolithic integration. A “lift‐off” type structuring was applied for P1 and P3, and an “ablation” type was for P2. The laser structuring was optimized to be minimizing the dead area width, and the width of about 70 µm was successfully achieved. A mini‐module, in which the optimized structuring processes were applied for the integration, demonstrated a certified efficiency of 16.6%. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Immunotherapy for Biliary Tract Cancer in the Era of Precision Medicine: Current Knowledge and Future Perspectives

Biliary tract cancers (BTC) represent a heterogeneous and aggressive group of tumors with dismal prognosis. For a long time, BTC has been considered an orphan disease with very limited therapeutic options. In recent years a better understanding of the complex molecular landscape of biology is rapidly changing the therapeutic armamentarium. However, while 40–50% of patients there are molecular drivers susceptible to target therapy, for the remaining population new therapeutic options represent an unsatisfied clinical need. The role of immunotherapy in the continuum of treatment of patients with BTC is still debated. Despite initial signs of antitumor-activity, single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) demonstrated limited efficacy in an unselected population. Therefore, identifying the best partner to combine ICIs and predictive biomarkers represents a key challenge to optimize the efficacy of immunotherapy. This review provides a critical analysis of completed trials, with an eye on future perspectives and possible biomarkers of response.     

Habitat Suitability and Landscape Structure: A Maximum Entropy Approach in a Mediterranean Area

Species distribution models have recently become important tools in ecological research. Prediction of suitable habitats for threatened and endangered species is essential for the conservation and management of their native habitats. A landscape scale approach is relevant for biodiversity conservation since landscape planning and management are generally conducted at wide spatial scales, focusing on areas with complex landscape configuration as a consequence of human activities. The aims of this study were to test a maximum entropy approach (Maxent) to the development of a niche-based model for species of conservation interest and to relate this model to landscape structure metrics. The results obtained here showed a good predictive power of Maxent for the three target species and highlighted the importance of landscape structure analysis for the detection of patterns of habitat suitability. Moreover, this work stressed that combining classical environmental information with landscape structure in analysing habitat suitability for species of conservation interest may be used to guide conservation efforts and landscape management practices.