In 2020, European countries generated 807 mln tons of construction and demolition waste (CDW), accounting for 37.5% of total waste production. The UE Waste Framework Directive of 2008 established as a priority goal to increase the percentage of reuse, recycling and recovery of nonhazardous construction waste to a minimum of 70% by 2020. Pending the report that will define compliance with this goal, the average percentage currently stands at around 50%, of which only 3% involves upcycling operations. This doctoral research defines an operational methodology aimed at implementing digital processes for circularity in the AEC sector, with a focus on post-earthquake emergency Italian contexts. The treatment of CDW in earthquake-affected areas for the purpose of recovery/reuse, in a perspective of circularity, represents an underexplored field and limited, as in the rest of UE, to downcycling operations. By defining planning strategies and digital tools and procedures, the research aims to facilitate the reuse of building elements from post-earthquake demolition and reconstruction operations. The final output of the research consists of a cloud database, a Digital Material Bank (DMB), of informed building elements from post-earthquake selective demolition operations that can be reused in the construction market as a secondary raw material. The CDW management of the 2016 Central Italy earthquake is identified as the scope of application, with a focus on the situation in the Marche region. Finally, the main limitations and possible future scenarios of the research are reported.

Backgrounds. One of the major complications after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is represented by leaks along the staple line. Several reinforcement techniques have been proposed, but scarce data about the real strengthening offered are present. Thus, we aimed to evaluate if different reinforcements produced different bursting pressures after LSG, and then to verify if the clinical application of the stronger reinforcement produced a reduction in leakage rate. Methods. We prospectively enrolled all consecutive obese patients that underwent LSG. We tested 3 different types of staple lines, as follows: group 1, no reinforcement; group 2, bioabsorbable buttress reinforcement; group 3, invaginating overrunning barbed suture. A burst pressure test was applied to the gastric specimen by means of high-resolution manometric catheter. After burst pressure tests, a subsequent consecutive series of patients were treated with the most effective reinforcement, and rate of leaks was recorded. Results. We enrolled in total 110 obese patients; 20 patients for each group of staple line reinforcement and then other 50 consecutive patients underwent LSG with the higher burst pressure staple line reinforcement. Median burst pressures were similar in group 1 and group 2; group 3 showed a statistically significant pressure increase (P < .0001) than group 1 and group 2, with a 5.2-fold value. Other consecutive 50 obese patients underwent LSG with overrunning reinforcement. In none of them a leak was detected. Conclusions. Reinforcement of the SG staple line, with overrunning suture, seems to drastically increase bursting pressures in an ex vivo model and it is promising when reproduced in vivo.

The paper reflects possible “transition” strategies for the industrialised residential building stock considering its systemic nature and current technological availability, with particular reference to digital technologies. Screening of some research on housing in the context of ecological and digital transition is proposed, starting from a critical review of interventions over the past decades, which reveal a fragmented framework of punctual solutions that cannot be codified as organic and replicable strategies. This highlights the research world’s focus on broader holistic approaches that look at energy transition as closely related to the transition of the entire building organism and the inhabiting community.