Percolation threshold of carbon nanotubes filled unsaturated polyesters

This paper reports on the development of electrically conductive nanocomposites containing multi-walled carbon nanotubes in an unsaturated polyester matrix. The resistivity of the liquid suspension during processing is used to evaluate the quality of the filler dispersion, which is also studied using optical microscopy. The electrical properties of the cured composites are analysed by AC impedance spectroscopy and DC conductivity measurements. The conductivity of the cured nanocomposite follows a statistical percolation model, with percolation threshold at 0.026 wt.% loading of nanotubes. The results obtained show that unsaturated polyesters are a matrix suitable for the preparation of electrically conductive thermosetting nanocomposites at low nanotube concentrations. The effect of carbon nanotubes reaggregation on the electrical properties of the spatial structure generated is discussed

Subcutaneous emphysema during root canal therapy: endodontic accident by sodium hypoclorite

Cervicofacial subcutaneous emphysema is defined as the abnormal introduction of air in the subcutaneous tissues of the head and neck. It is mainly caused by trauma, head and neck surgery, general anesthesia, and coughing or habitual performance of Valsalva manoeuvre. The occurrence of subcutaneous emphysema after dental treatment is rare, and diffusion of gas into the mediastinum is much rarer, especially when the procedure is a nonsurgical treatment. Presented here is a case of subcutaneous emphysema that occurred after sodium hypochlorite irrigation during endodontic treatment, and the description of its etiologies and prevention during nonsurgical endodontic treatment. Endodontic success can be essentially achieved via good debridement of a root canal, and an ideal endodontic irrigant is effective in removing the smear layer, opening the dentinal tubules, and producing a clean surface for closer obturation

SHOOTING DOWN THE PRICE: EVIDENCE FROM MAFIA HOMICIDES AND HOUSING MARKET VOLATILITY

In this work, we assess the role of a specific type of organized crime in influencing choices on where living within the city territory, and consequently, volatility in house prices. More specifically, we test how organized crime killing may influence house pricing behaviors. Firstly, we show evidences about how organized crime is associated with higher inequality of housing prices for Italian cities in 2011. Then, by collecting and geo referencing data on the city of Naples for the period 2002-2016, we test for the direct influence of homicides on the relevant territory, as on the neighboring districts. Results show a negative and significant impact of killing on the house prices either for sales or for rents and a positive effect in neighboring district, driving increases in within-city inequality

World Interest Rates, Inequality and Growth: an Empirical Analysis of the Galor-Zeira Model

Following Galor and Zeira (1993), we study the effect of the world interest rate on inequality and growth for the period 1985-2005, characterized by falling world interest rates and cross-country income polarization. We argue that the two phenomena are related on th e basis of the following findings, which are in accordance with the predictions of the Galor and Zeira model: 1) a reduction of the world inter est rates increases inequality in rich countries and decreases inequ ality in poor countries; 2) inequality has a negative (and significant) eff ect on human capital accumulation in rich countries and a positive (b ut mostly not significant) effect in poor countries; 3) human capital po sitively affects GDP in both group of countries, in particular with a higher marginal effect in poor countries. The overall effect of these facts is polarization in the world income distribution

eGEP Economic Model: Final Report on the Benefits, Costs and Financing of eGovernment

The Economic Study aims at assessing the impact of ICT within the Public Sector (PS) to Public Sector itself and to society. In particular, it provides the theoretical underpinning of the tangible elements presented in the Measurement Framework. The basic tenet of our model is that eGovernment programs result into an improvement of labour productivity in PS and, as a consequence, contribute to a number of intermediate outcomes (better services, cost savings, etc), and to the growth of GDP. Indeed, the contribution of PS to GDP can be adequately estimated as equal to the labour productivity of the public sector multiplied by the total number of public sector employees. As eGovernment represents the focus of our investigation, we make a ceteris paribus assumption and consider productivity increases linked only to the introduction of wider forms of eGovernment. Then we estimate PS productivity as a ratio between public sector output and the number of public sector employees. The model considers 5 main channels through which eGovernment projects increase PS productivity: the Market Enlargement or Smith’s Effect, the Substitution or Ricardo’s Effect, the Back-Office Reorganization Effect, the Investments-Led or Schumpeter’s Effect, and Other Take-Up Driven Effects. Given the large share of PS in European countries’ GDP, efficiency in the PAs is an objective per se and a major driver of international competitiveness and economic welfare: the growth of PS productivity is the first channel through which eGovernment enhances GDP growth. Then, two other effects depart from the growth of PS’s productivity: on the one hand, publicly provided goods and services contribute to welfare and are part of a country’s Gross Domestic Product, hence their growth should be accounted in national accounts (the second channel: growth of PS total output). Also, a more efficient public administration contributes directly to the efficiency of the economy as a whole and to the productivity of the Private Sector in particular, by stimulating innovation and the growth of the most competitive and innovative industries (the first, “indirect”, part of the third channel). Finally, eGovernment contributes to GDP growth due to its being part of Aggregate Demand, and its potential impact could further extend to multiplier and accelerator phenomena. Although the model’s foundations lie in a microeconomic analysis of single eGovernment projects and PAs, due to data limitations, following a macro approach, we have instead fit our model by aggregate data, so to produce tentative predictions for productivity and GDP behaviour in the next years, while providing a first validation of the proposed economic model. From this point of view, we can affirm that our results are encouraging, though it should be remarked that estimates are only partial, in many relevant theoretical effects could not be taken into account, and they are based on a rather short period of observation, therefore retaining a smaller statistical significance. Our estimates imply rather strong effects of eGovernment expenditure on PS productivity and GDP growth, even if we only consider the direct effect, i.e. we ignore the potential effect of the increased PS efficiency on the productivity of the private sector, and without even considering multiplier and/or accelerator effects. Our estimations imply that the projections on eGovernment expenditure provided by eGEP would lead by 2010 to a cumulative GDP growth at the EU-level of 1.5%. Furthermore, in a second scenario we also developed a simulation exercise to take into account the aggregate impact of both cost savings related to eProcurement and eGovernment expenditure on GDP growth for the period 2005-2010: if we assume that cost savings related to eProcurement would transfer in additional investments by PAs during the period 2005-2007, the overall GDP growth attributable to eGovernment in the period 2005-2010 can be estimated at 2%. Finally, from both the theoretical implications of the Economic Model and the empirical analysis employed in its validation procedure, we established that, in order to exploit eGovernment potential at its maximum level, it is necessary to work in three directions: increasing both the efficiency and the effectiveness of eGovernment inside Public Administrations and with reference to their main stakeholders (policy recommendations 1 to 4); promoting the diffusion of specific tools for performance measurement, together with a favourable cultural background (policy no. 5); setting-up a number of complementary policies, in order to foster the “take-up” effect, and finally promote productivity and growth. We identified five policy objectives connected to these three strategies: to share eGovernment goals, to address eGovernment towards shared objectives, to favour a performance-friendly environment within the Public Sector, to promote accessible and useful eGovernment services, to great a friendly financial framework for eGovernment, to make the performance measurement mandatory.public administrations; productivity growth; e-Government

Molecular Epidemiology of mcr-Encoded Colistin Resistance in Enterobacteriaceae From Food-Producing Animals in Italy Revealed Through the EU Harmonized Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring

Colistin resistance by mobilisable mcr genes has been described in bacteria of food-animal origin worldwide, which has raised public health concerns about its potential foodborne transmission to human pathogenic bacteria. Here we provide baseline information on the molecular epidemiology of colistin-resistant, mcr-positive Escherichia coli and Salmonella isolates in food-producing animals in Italy in 2014-2015. A total 678, 861 and 236 indicator E. coli, Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL)/AmpC-producing E. coli, and Salmonella isolates, respectively, were tested for colistin susceptibility. These isolates were collected according to the EU harmonized antimicrobial resistance monitoring program and are representative of at least 90 and 80% of the Italian poultry (broiler chickens and turkeys) and livestock (pigs and bovines < 12 months) production, respectively. Whole genome sequencing by Illumina technology and bioinformatics (Center for Genomic Epidemiology pipeline) were used to type 42 mcr-positive isolates by PCR. Colistin resistance was mainly observed in the ESBL/AmpC E. coli population, and was present in 25.9, 5.3, 6.5, and 3.9% of such isolates in turkeys, broilers, pigs, and bovines, respectively. Most colistin-resistant isolates (141/161, 87.5%) harbored genes of the mcr-1 group. mcr-1 was also detected in a small proportion of Salmonella isolates (3/146, 2.0%) in turkeys. Additional mcr types were mcr-3 in four ESBL-producing E. coli from bovines, and two mcr-4 in ESBL (n = 1) and indicator E. coli (n = 1) from pigs and bovines. We describe notable diversity of mcr variants with predominance of mcr-1.1 and mcr-1.2 on conjugative IncX4 plasmids in E. coli and in Salmonella serovars Typhimurium, Newport, Blockley from turkey. A new variant, mcr-1.13 was detected in the chromosome in E. coli in turkey and pig isolates. Additionally, we describe mcr-3.2 and mcr-4.3 in E. coli from bovines, and mcr-4.2 in E. coli from pigs. These findings elucidate the epidemiology of colistin resistance in food-producing animals in Italy along with its genetic background, and highlight the likelihood of mcr horizontal transfer between commensal bacteria and major food-borne pathogens (Salmonella) within the same type of productions. Thorough action and strategies are needed in order to mitigate the risk of mcr transfer to humans, in a “One Health” perspective

Reversible vapochromic response of polymer films doped with a highly emissive molecular rotor

We report on a new vapochromic system suitable for sensing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) based on polymer films doped with 4-(diphenylamino)phthalonitrile (DPAP), a fluorescent molecular rotor sensitive to both solvent polarity and viscosity. Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC) films containing small amounts of DPAP (#0.1 wt%) were prepared and exposed to saturated atmospheres of different VOCs. DPAP/PMMA films show a good and reversible vapochromism when exposed to VOCs with high polarity index and favourable interaction with polymer matrices such as THF, CHCl3, and acetonitrile. Analogously, DPAP/PC films exposed to polar and highly polymer-interacting solvents, that is, toluene, THF, and CHCl3, show a gradual decrease and red-shift of the emission. In contrast to DPAP/ PMMA films, an unexpected increase and further red-shift of fluorescence are observed at longer exposure times as a consequence of an irreversible, solvent-induced crystallization process of PC. The vapochromism of DPAP-doped films is rationalized on the basis of alterations of the rotor intramolecular motion and polarity effects stemming from the environment, which, in concert, influence the deactivation pathways of the DPAP intramolecular charge transfer state. Overall, the present results support the use of DPAP-enriched plastic films as a new chromogenic material suitable for the detection of VOCs

A list of methods to detect arthropod quarantine pests in Europe

A total of 177 species of quarantine arthropods in Europe have been analysed for detection methods that are used in surveillance. This paper provides a link to a list where the methods most frequently used, either alone or in combination, are given for each species. Inspection remains the most common method of detection (108 species). Volatile compounds produced by either insects or host plants, or those released from food attractants are used for 85 species, while light trapping accounts for 28 species. Semiochemicals are known for 73 species, but are commercially available for only 43 species.Un ensemble de 177 espèces d’arthropodes de quarantaine en Europe ont été analysés pour identifier les méthodes de détection qui sont utilisées pour leur surveillance. Cet article fournit un lien vers une liste qui donne les méthodes les plus fréquemment utilisées, seules ou en combinaison, pour chaque espèce. L’inspection reste la méthode la plus fréquente de detection (108 espèces). Les composées volatiles produits soit par des insectes, soit par les plantes-hôtes ou libérés par des aliments, sont utilisés pour 85 espèces, alors que les pièges lumineux sont utilisés pour 28 espèces. Les substances semiochimiques sont connues pour 73 espèces, mais ne sont disponibles commercialement que pour 43 espèces

A New Multilocus Sequence Typing Scheme and Its Application for the Characterization of Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae Associated with Mortality in Cetaceans

Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae (PDD) is a known pathogen of fish, humans and marine mammals. In this study, a Multilocus Sequence Typing (MLST) scheme based on six housekeeping genes (glp, gyrB, metG, pnt, pyrC and toxR) was developed to better understand the PDD population structure and used to type 73 PDD isolates from cetaceans, mainly striped dolphins (Stenella coeruleoalba) involved in mortality episodes, and from a few marine chelonians. Five reference ATCC strains were also included in the study. Typing allowed the discrimination of groups of PDD strains isolated from different host species, at different times and from different geographic areas, suggesting that a clonal PDD group may have spread in the Tyrrhenian sea at the time of an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) among cetaceans, mainly striped dolphins, occurred in early 2013 along the Italian western coasts

Aggregative oviposition varies with density in processionary moths—Implications for insect outbreak propensity

1. In gregarious insects, groups commonly originate from females laying eggs in masses and feeding groups are established as soon as larvae hatch. Some groupliving insect species may aggregate beyond the individual parent level, such that offspring from two or more egg masses develop within a common resource. 2. Here we show that aggregative oviposition can vary with population density at oviposition and possibly be an important factor in outbreak dynamics of phytophagous insects. 3. We analysed density data with respect to egg mass aggregation for two species of pine processionary moths, Thaumetopoea pinivora (in Sweden 2005–2019) and T. pityocampa (in Spain 1973–1991). Both species lay their eggs in egg masses and feed in groups. During the study periods, insect population density for both species varied by at least an order of magnitude. 4. The two species showed strikingly similar patterns of egg mass aggregation. Egg masses were overdispersed at high population density, with few trees showing a high load of egg masses. 5. Our data suggest that aggregative oviposition can be important in explaining the previously documented higher propensity for outbreaks in insects laying eggs in clusters, compared with those laying individual eggs.European Union's Horizon 2020 Program for Research and Innovation 771271Spanish Governmen