In modern nuclear technology, integral reactor parameter uncertainty evaluation plays a crucial role for both economic and safety purposes. Target accuracies for operating and future nuclear facilities can be obtained only if the available simulation tools, such that computational platforms and nuclear data, are precise enough to produce reduced biases and uncertainties on target reactor parameters. The quality of any engineering parameter uncertainty quantification analysis strongly depends on the reliability related to the covariance information contained in evaluated libraries. To propagate properly nuclear data uncertainty on nuclear reactor parameters, science-based variance-covariance matrices are then indispensable. The present work is devoted to nuclear data covariance matrices generation for reactivity loss uncertainty estimations regarding the Jules Horowitz Reactor (JHR), a material testing facility under construction at CEA-Cadarache (France). During depletion, in fact, various fission products appear and the related nuclear data are often barely known. In particular, the strenuous and worldwide recognized problem of generating fission product yields covariances has been mainly considered. Present nuclear data libraries such as JEFF or ENDF/B do not have complete uncertainty information on fission yields, which is limited to only variances. The main goal of this work is to generate science-based and physically consistent fission yields covariances to be associated to the existing European library JEFF-3.1.1. Variance-covariance matrices have been evaluated using CONRAD (COde for Nuclear Reaction Analysis and Data assimilation, developed at CEA-Cadarache) for the most significant fissioning systems.

Many organic pollutants are daily released into the environment or pass through the wastewater treatment plants contaminating surface and drinkable water. Part of these pollutants belongs to the category of the emerging organic contaminants since they are still unregulated or in process of regularization. They give cause of concern since they are dangerous for human health and for the survivor of a large number of living organisms. The implementation of wastewater treatment plants against the emerging contaminants is one of the challenges for the enhancement of the water quality, and advanced oxidation processes represent new technologies very promising as tertiary treatments. The research activity carried out during my PhD course focused on degradation test on aqueous solutions contaminated with different class of pollutants such as surfactants, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, both as single compound solutions and mixture of contaminants. The photocatalytic process was studied developing a new pre-industrial pilot plant and testing new TiO2-based photocatalysts in a view of a technological transfer of the photocatalytic methodology. The reuse of a photocatalyst consisting of TiO2 supported on a solid substrates was also investigated with the aim to avoid some problems related to the use of a dispersed catalyst. Photocatalytic process coupled with ultrasounds was also examined in order to speed up the decomposition of the pollutants. The disappearance of every pollutant was followed by HPLC analysis and the mineralization was assessed by the determination of total organic carbon. In the end, the energy consumption related to the processes tested on the mixture of contaminants was calculated in order to establish the best methodology to obtain good degradation rate with reasonable costs.

The dissertation focuses on several aspects of non-equilibrium atmospheric plasma technology, also known as cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) technology, including the design, the diagnostic and the optimization of CAP sources for biomedical applications. The first part of the dissertation concerns the characterization of a single electrode atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) through various diagnostic techniques, including ICCD and Schlieren high speed imaging. First, the results for the APPJ freely expanding in atmosphere are presented along with the detailed description of the methodology developed for the ICCD analysis of plasma discharges driven by sub-microsecond voltage pulses. Second, results on the investigation on the APPJ source while impinging on a liquid substrate are shown to highlight the influence of the presence of the liquid substrate on the characteristics of the plasma discharge. In the second part of the dissertation focuses on the application of CAP technology in various branches of the medical field. The applications reported in this dissertation include: plasma treatment of soft reline palatal obturators prostheses for bacterial decontamination and reduction of bacteria adhesion; plasma direct and indirect treatment of L5178Y lymphoma cells to investigate the fundamental mechanisms promoting cell death and cell-cycle arrest; plasma treatment of tooth root canal dentin in standard dental procedures for the enhancement of the adhesion of resin composites for dental restorations. Overall, all findings support the feasibility of these plasma applications and help in the understanding of some of their governing mechanisms.

Weathering steel (WS) describes a class of material, presenting higher corrosion resistance and enhanced mechanical properties than carbon steel when exposed to medium-aggressive environments (rural, urban and light-industrial). The chemical composition of WS, including elements such as Cu, Cr, Ni, Mn, promotes the creation of an adherent passivation layer, which opposes the entry of corrosive species and protects material from further corrosion. However, depending on the exposure environment, the evolution and the composition of patinas can strongly change; the exposure to corrosive atmospheres (i.e., marine sites and industrial/urban areas) destabilizes the patina and reduces corrosion resistance, leading WS to be more susceptible to corrosion and wash-out processes. Consequently, WS releases a certain quantity of alloying metals that could disperse in surrounding areas (soil or water); depending on their chemical form, mobility and bioavailability, some of these elements could represent an hazard to the environment and to living organisms, because of their persistence and potential chronic toxicity. In this work, the issue of atmospheric corrosion of WS was extensively investigated through field and laboratory tests, to evaluate and quantify the effects that surface treatments, exposure geometry, environmental factors and main atmospheric contaminants may have on WS corrosion. Specifically, the characterization of the composition and morphology of corrosion products formed on WS was combined with an innovative approach, that is the quantification of metal dissolution during the early years of exposure, when environmental impact could be greater, and the application of multivariate data analysis. A specific focus was made on the interaction of material with the main aggressive saline ions contained in particulate matter. This work allowed to give a more complete and comprehensive characterization of the environmental behavior of weathering steel and to point out interesting conclusion on the main environmental aspects affecting outdoor corrosion of this material.

This research presents the overall results obtained by investigating the performances of fly ash based geopolymers activated at room temperature. Several characterization tests have been perfomed, starting from a deep understanding of the raw materials, in view of finding alternative solutions to the use of traditional hydraulic binders or ceramic materials via alkali-activation. Different types of geopolymer samples (i.e., pastes, mortars and reinforced mortars) have been formulated by varying the nominal Na2O/SiO2 molar ratio in the activating solutions (and in a specific case the curing conditions) and their chemical, physical, mechanical and microstructural performances have been evaluated comparing the results obtained by using different types of precursors and by a traditional cement-based binder. Specific attention has ben focused on durability issues such as high temperature applications and corrosion resistance of the embedded rebars in geopolymer mortars exposed to aggressive environments. Alkali-activation has been found to represent a valid approach in developing performant cement-free products but step forward are needed in order to optimize the solution chemistry and enhance physical and mechanical properties starting from a deep understand at nanoscale of the geopolymerization reaction mechanisms.

The present PhD thesis summarizes the three-years study about the neutronic investigation of a new concept nuclear reactor aiming at the optimization and the sustainable management of nuclear fuel in a possible European scenario. A new generation nuclear reactor for the nuclear reinassance is indeed desired by the actual industrialized world, both for the solution of the energetic question arising from the continuously growing energy demand together with the corresponding reduction of oil availability, and the environment question for a sustainable energy source free from Long Lived Radioisotopes and therefore geological repositories. Among the Generation IV candidate typologies, the Lead Fast Reactor concept has been pursued, being the one top rated in sustainability. The European Lead-cooled SYstem (ELSY) has been at first investigated. The neutronic analysis of the ELSY core has been performed via deterministic analysis by means of the ERANOS code, in order to retrieve a stable configuration for the overall design of the reactor. Further analyses have been carried out by means of the Monte Carlo general purpose transport code MCNP, in order to check the former one and to define an exact model of the system. An innovative system of absorbers has been conceptualized and designed for both the reactivity compensation and regulation of the core due to cycle swing, as well as for safety in order to guarantee the cold shutdown of the system in case of accident. Aiming at the sustainability of nuclear energy, the steady-state nuclear equilibrium has been investigated and generalized into the definition of the ``extended'' equilibrium state. According to this, the Adiabatic Reactor Theory has been developed, together with a New Paradigm for Nuclear Power: in order to design a reactor that does not exchange with the environment anything valuable (thus the term ``adiabatic''), in the sense of both Plutonium and Minor Actinides, it is required indeed to revert the logical design scheme of nuclear cores, starting from the definition of the equilibrium composition of the fuel and submitting to the latter the whole core design. The New Paradigm has been applied then to the core design of an Adiabatic Lead Fast Reactor complying with the ELSY overall system layout. A complete core characterization has been done in order to asses criticality and power flattening; a preliminary evaluation of the main safety parameters has been also done to verify the viability of the system. Burn up calculations have been then performed in order to investigate the operating cycle for the Adiabatic Lead Fast Reactor; the fuel performances have been therefore extracted and inserted in a more general analysis for an European scenario. The present nuclear reactors fleet has been modeled and its evolution simulated by means of the COSI code in order to investigate the materials fluxes to be managed in the European region. Different plausible scenarios have been identified to forecast the evolution of the European nuclear energy production, including the one involving the introduction of Adiabatic Lead Fast Reactors, and compared to better analyze the advantages introduced by the adoption of new concept reactors. At last, since both ELSY and the ALFR represent new concept systems based upon innovative solutions, the neutronic design of a demonstrator reactor has been carried out: such a system is intended to prove the viability of technology to be implemented in the First-of-a-Kind industrial power plant, with the aim at attesting the general strategy to use, to the largest extent. It was chosen then to base the DEMO design upon a compromise between demonstration of developed technology and testing of emerging technology in order to significantly subserve the purpose of reducing uncertainties about construction and licensing, both validating ELSY/ALFR main features and performances, and to qualify numerical codes and tools.

La ricerca dottorale che ho sviluppato si propone di analizzare il percorso di valutazione della genitorialità recentemente delineato dai servizi sociali territoriali della provincia di Bologna attraverso la sperimentazione di strumenti per la diagnosi sociale, valutando gli esiti dell’applicazione, anche in confronto all’utilizzo di metodi tradizionali. Il progetto ha il suo fulcro tematico, nel qualificare le pratiche professionali, con il fine ultimo di giungere ad un percorso di diagnosi sociale scientificamente fondato. Il mio obbiettivo quindi non è stato analizzare in termini astratti e idealtipici le metodologie professionali di riferimento per i 32 operatori coinvolti, quanto piuttosto di formarli all’utilizzo di una serie di strumenti elaborati nelle fasi precedenti del progetto, e condurre una ricerca empirica su un numero, sufficientemente ampio, di “casi concreti” costituito da nuclei familiari in carico ai servizi sociali. Più precisamente l'ambito privilegiato d’analisi è stato individuato nel rapporto tra operatore ed utente, allo scopo di evidenziare pregi e difetti dell'utilizzo di strumenti professionali finalizzati alla diagnosi sociale. Inoltre va sottolineato che l’analisi della letteratura sul tema ha evidenziato l’esistenza di un numero molto limitato di studi empirici sulle metodologie di servizio sociale, condotti peraltro su un numero di casi e di variabili molto ristretto, e per lo più in territorio statunitense, dove il sistema di Welfare si caratterizza per una impostazione tale da rendere veramente difficile la comparazione con la realtà italiana. Quello a cui ho inteso pervenire non è un giudizio ultimo sull’efficacia di questa specifica metodologia tout-court, ma piuttosto analizzare, attraverso l’utilizzo di materiali quanti-qualitativi derivati dalla sperimentazione, quelle che sono le condizioni che si vengono a determinare quando, nel percorso di presa in carico sociale, vengono introdotti strumenti specifici, metodologia chiara e alto coinvolgimento delle componenti relazionali del processo: operatori, familiari e rete sociale allargata. / My doctoral research is to develop the way to analyse and evaluate the parenting tools recently outlined by the local social services in the province of Bologna through testing of tools for social diagnosis, evaluating the results of the application, in comparison to the use of traditional methods. The project has its thematic emphasis in achieving qualified professional practices, with the ultimate goal of reaching a scientifically founded process of social diagnosis. The aim then was not to analyse the typical professional methodologies used by the 32 workers involved in the case-study but rather to train them in using a series of tools developed in the previous phases of the project. I conducted empirical research on a number of cases to analyse and identify the relationship between social workers and families under care in order to highlight the pros and cons of using professional tools. It should also be emphasized that the analysis of the literature on the subject has shown that there is a very limited number of empirical studies on the methodologies of social service. The research shows there were previous studies conducted on a small number of cases and variables but mostly of these were in the USA where the Welfare Systems setting is not comparable with the Italian system. What I intended to achieve is not a final judgment on the effectiveness of this specific methodology but rather to analyse, through the use of quantitative and qualitative materials derived during the experimental period, the conditions introduced in the relation between social workers and families under care, using specific tools, clear methodology and emphatic components of the process: the operators, families and social network.

Carbonate stones on site undergo severe weathering processes, that make consolidation and protection necessary. However, currently available consolidants and protectives are far from being satisfactory when applied to this kind of materials. For this reason, in this thesis an innovative hydroxyapatite-based treatment was developed for limestone consolidation, marble consolidation and marble protection. Firstly, a new treatment protocol was set up for limestone and marble consolidation: solution precursor, concentration and pH, application method and possible additions were investigated to improve the treatment performance. Then, efficacy, compatibility and durability of the treatment were evaluated on these two lithotypes, in comparison with the products currently used for the same aim (ethyl silicate and ammonium oxalate). For marble, the treatment protocol developed in laboratory was also tested on a real historic artefact and on site. Moreover, a surface treatment for protecting marble against acidic rain was formulated, investigating how different parameters (starting solution pH and concentration, organic and inorganic additions) affect the morphology, composition and acid resistance of the treated surface. Excellent results were achieved: hydroxyapatite resulted an effective, compatible and durable consolidant for carbonate stone. Moreover, ethanol addition allowed to obtain a uniform, acid resistant protective hydroxyapatite layer on marble.

Sediments are the final repositories for most pollutants, which can accumulate and remain in the sedimentary matrix for long periods of time and may accumulate through the food web, affecting marine biota, aquatic-dependent wildlife, and ultimately human health. Thus, a wide-ranging work monitoring different groups of contaminants in sediments is a key tool for a comprehensive understanding of contaminants behavior and identification of the overall environmental quality and possible threatens to the whole marine ecosystem. POPs, among which PCBs and DDTs rank first, polycyclic aromatic hyrocarbons (PAHs), and selected groups contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) (fragrances, UV filters, endocrine disruptors) were the objective of this work. First, PCB congeners were analyzed in sediment cores and recent sediments along the north-south axis of the western Adriatic Sea. Chronological records of PCB concentrations and homologue patterns were assessed, supporting the reconstruction of PCBs fluxes and total inventories. Then, the spatial distribution and fate of selected legacy and emerging compounds were investigated in surface sediments sampled along the Adriatic mud-wedge and in deep-sea regions from the southern Adriatic basin, providing the first extensive dataset and also the evaluation of potential ecotoxicological risk of target emerging contaminants in sediments from the Adriatic Sea. Finally, the analyzes of selected legacy contaminants (PCBs, DDTs and PAHs) in sediment cores from coastal and deep-sea sediments from the Adriatic Sea supported the comparison between these two areas and further reinforces the hypothesis on the transfer of contaminants from contaminated areas in the northern Adriatic to the deep southern Adriatic basin. The present thesis is the summary of the work carried out in the last three year of the PhD program “Scienze ambientali: tutela e gestione delle risorse naturali” and contains three manuscripts (two under review and one in preparation), and the main conclusions regarding this PhD research project.

Nel corso degli ultimi vent'anni si è assistito ad una diffusa sperimentazione di processi partecipativi, tesi al coinvolgimento dei cittadini nelle scelte pubbliche. La letteratura sul tema inquadra tale rinascita di spazi della partecipazione nel contesto della crisi della politica e delle democrazia, in particolare di quella rappresentativa, quindi non della politica in generale e verso questioni di interesse pubblico, ma delle forme più tradizionali di partecipazione politica. Nel quadro di una “rinascita” di forme di partecipazione alternative si assiste al diffondersi di pratiche che vedono i cittadini farsi promotori di iniziative, in quartieri, strade, «micro-aree urbane», mettendo al centro la cura di beni comuni, la convivenza e la vivibilità negli spazi pubblici urbani. Allo stesso tempo, come mostrano anche diversi studi e ricerche, si assiste all'emergere di un crescente interesse da parte delle istituzioni stesse verso la promozione di percorsi tesi ad accrescere senso di responsabilità dei cittadini nella cura del territorio, delle comunità di cui fanno parte, per la promozione di vivibilità, coesione sociale. La ricerca ha quindi rilevato e messo a fuoco un terreno a tratti ibrido, sperimentale, di incontro tra cittadini che si attivano ed organizzano e istituzioni che diventano sostenitrici, ma senza guidare. La ricerca analizza in particolare tre campi di pratiche, nel Quartiere San Donato, a Bologna, anche alla luce del recente Regolamento per la collaborazione tra cittadini e amministrazione per la rigenerazione e la cura di beni comuni urbani. L'attenzione è agli orizzonti di senso della, al rapporto cittadini e istituzioni che in esse prende forma, indagando se e come possono essere lette come sperimentazioni democratiche che danno vita a relazioni dialogiche nella sfera pubblica, a pratiche di responsabilità sociale condivisa, e allo sviluppo di capacità sociali collettive. / During the last 20 years there has been a large experimentation of participatory process to involve citizens in the public policy making. The literature, often frame this increasing of spaces of participation in the general context of a crisis of representative democracy and of traditional forms of political participation. In the context of an increasing of alternative forms of participation, there is a proliferation of citizens infinitives, at neighborhood level, in the streets, in “micro-urban” areas, with a focus on commons' care, livability in the urban public spaces. At the same time there is an emerging interest of the institution in the promotion of processes aiming at fostering the citizens responsibility in the care of territory, community, and for the social cohesion. The research has identify an hybrid and sometimes experiential field of encounter between active, self- organized citizens and institutions that sustain and support these citizens initiatives but without taking a lead. The research analyzed three field of practices, in the San Donato Neighborhood, in Bologna, the city where recently has been adopted a new set of rules for the collaboration between citizens and administration for the regeneration and care of urban commons'. The focus is on the meanings, on the relations between citizens and institutions emerging in these practices, training to understand if is possible to read them as a democratic experimentation able to create a public dimension, to develop social, collective capabilities and sheared social responsibility.