ARPA-E

About: ARPA-E is a government organization based out in Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Climate change. The organization has 1161 authors who have published 1267 publications receiving 30049 citations. The organization is also known as: Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy.

A cloud-to-ground lightning climatology for north-eastern Italy

Abstract: . This study analyzes the spatial distribution and temporal characteristics of cloud-to-ground lightnings (C2G) in the North East of Italy and the neighboring areas of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The dataset consists of about 6.5 millions C2G flash records, both positive and negative, observed between January 1995 and December 2011 by the "Centro Elettrotecnico Sperimentale Italiano-Sistema Italiano Rilevamento Fulmini'' (CESI/SIRF), part of the European Cooperation for Lightning Detection (EUCLID) Network. The results show that C2G lightnings concentrate in the foothill regions on the southern flank of the Eastern Alps with a maximum of discharge frequency of 10 lightnings per km2 per year. The number of C2G strokes varies with the period of the year: the most active period for lightning starts in April and lasts through November with the highest number of C2G strokes happening during the summer months of July and August, with maximum spatial density slightly moving from the mountain to the coastal area. The least frequency of C2G strokes is observed during wintertime. The mean diurnal C2G lightning activity for the whole domain shows a peak around 16:00–17:00 UTC and reaches a minimum around 07:00–09:00 UTC; the mean spatial distribution follows different patterns depending on the period of the day.

Impact of environmental pollution and weather changes on the incidence of ST-elevation myocardial infarction:

Abstract: BackgroundEnvironmental pollution and weather changes unfavorably impact on cardiovascular disease. However, limited research has focused on ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), the most sev...

Sustainable biomass power plant location in the Italian Emilia-Romagna region

Abstract: Biomass power plants are very promising for reducing carbon oxides emissions, because they provide energy with a carbon-neutral process. Biomass comes from trees and vegetables, so they provide a renewable type of energy. However, biomass plants location, along with their provisioning basins, are heavily regulated by economical aspects, often without careful consideration of their environmental footprint. For example, some Italian biomass plants import from overseas palm-tree oil that is economically convenient. However, the energy consumed for the oil transportation is definitely greater than the energy produced by the palm-tree oil burning. In this way biomass power plants turn out to be environmentally inefficient, even if they produce renewable energy.We propose an Integer Linear Programming approach for defining the energy and cost-efficient biomass plant location along with the corresponding provisioning basin. In addition, the model enables to evaluate existing plants and their energy and cost efficiency. Our study is based on real data gathered in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy.Finally, this optimization tool is just a small part of a wider perspective that is aimed to define decision support tools for the improvement of regional planning and its precise strategic environmental assessment.

Seasonal acclimation in the epiphytic lichen Parmelia sulcata is influenced by change in photobiont population density.

Abstract: CO2 gas exchange, radial growth, chlorophyll (Chl) content and photobiont density of an epiphytic population of Parmelia sulcata were monitored every 2 months during 1 year in a temperate deciduous forest of Central Italy, to verify possible seasonal variations. Light response curves of south-exposed thalli, built up in the laboratory at 6 and 27°C at optimal thallus hydration, showed that CO2 gas exchange changed significantly during the year, with a maximum for gross photosynthesis in December at both temperatures. Photoinhibition phenomena occurred in early spring, immediately before tree leaves sprouted. The principal component analysis of CO2 gas exchange parameters clearly separated the months with from the months without tree canopy cover. Radial growth, measured on marginal lobes of north- and south-exposed thalli, was the highest in December, and the lowest in April. Photobiont density, measured in lobes of south- and north-exposed thalli with a sedimentation chamber, also changed during the year: the number of photobionts was highest in June and December, and lowest in April, although no significant change in cell size and Chl content per cell was evident throughout the year. South-exposed thalli had slightly, but constantly higher photobiont density both on a weight and an area basis. The acclimation of lichen photosynthesis and Chl content to seasonal temperature and light changes should partially be re-visited on the basis of the significant variation in photobiont population density. This phenomenon still awaits, however, a satisfactory explanation, although it is probably related to the seasonal change in nutrient availability.