Self-Commitment-Institutions and Cooperation in Overlapping Generations Games

This paper focuses on a two-period OLG economy with public imperfect observability over the intergenerational cooperative dimension. Individual endowment is at free disposal and perfectly observable. In this environment we study how a new mechanism, we call Self-Commitment-Institution (SCI), outperforms personal and community enforcement in achieving higher ex-ante e¢ciency. Social norms with and without SCI are characterized. If social norms with SCI are implemented, agents might freely dispose of their endowment. As long as they reduce their marginal gain from deviation in terms of current utility, they also credibly self-commit on intergenerational cooperation. Under quite general conditions we find that, even if individual strategies are still characterized by behavioral uncertainty, the introduction of SCI relaxes the inclination toward opportunistic behavior and sustains higher e¢ciency compared to social norms without SCI. We quantify the value of SCI and investigate the role of memory with di§erent social norms. Finally, applications on intergenerational public good games and transfer games with productive SCI are provided

Updating Neighbour Cell List via Crowdsourced User Reports: A Framework for Measuring Time Performance

In modern wireless networks deployments, each serving node needs to keep its Neighbour Cell List (NCL) constantly up to date to keep track of network changes. The time needed by each serving node to update its NCL is an important parameter of the network’s reliability and performance. An adequate estimate of such parameter enables a significant improvement of self-configuration functionalities. This paper focuses on the update time of NCLs when an approach of crowdsourced user reports is adopted. In this setting, each user periodically reports to the serving node information about the set of nodes sensed by the user itself. We show that, by mapping the local topological structure of the network onto states of increasing knowledge, a crisp mathematical framework can be obtained, which allows in turn for the use of a variety of user mobility models. Further, using a simplified mobility model we show how to obtain useful upper bounds on the expected time for a serving node to gain Full Knowledge of its local neighbourhood

Reactive mesogens for ultraviolet-transparent liquid crystal polymer networks

Transparency and stability to UV light are important and desirable properties for modern tunable optical elements and active soft robots. A library of novel reactive mesogens for liquid crystal polymer networks resilient and transparent to UV light has been synthetised and characterised. Phase behaviours of the reactive mesogens have been determined by polarised optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. Liquid crystal polymer networks based on the combination of these novel reactive mesogens have been evaluated and compared to those based on common commercially available compounds. The results showed a twofold increase in transparency in a broad UV spectral region (200–400 nm) and importantly showed no degradation upon prolonged UV exposure contrary to the networks composed from commercial counterparts

Local anaesthesia efficacy as postoperative analgesia for open shoulder instability surgery. a prospective randomised controlled study

Background and objectives: The aim of present study was to evaluate for the first time, the clinical effect of local anaesthetic infiltration as postoperative analgesia in open shoulder surgery for anterior-inferior instability. The comparison of the local infiltration and interscalenic brachial plexus block to a control group test the local anaesthetic efficacy in this surgery. Methods: 78 patients scheduled for open shoulder surgery were enrolled and randomly assigned to one of three groups: local infiltration anaesthesia (LIA), interscalenic brachial plexus block (IBPB) and control (C). All patients received standardized general anaesthesia and all injections were performed with the same dose and volume of anaesthetic. The number boluses delivered by a PCA pump applied at the end of surgery and the visual analogue score (VAS) at 0, 2, 4, 6, 12, 18 and 24 hours after intervention were recorded. A patient satisfaction score was also assessed. Results: Mean bolus consumption of the rescue analgesic, compared to C, was significantly less both in the LIA and IBPB groups (P<0.05). The IBPB group showed VAS scores that were significantly better than C group at all time points (P<0.05). The VAS scores for LIA group were clinically comparable to IBPB, and only at the 2 and 6 hours, postoperative time points there were no significant differences found in respect to the C group. IBPB and LIA showed comparable patient satisfaction scores. Conclusion: The local anaesthetic infiltration as postoperative analgesia appears to be a clinically valid alternative, statistically comparable to IBPB, with no clinical meaningful adverse effects

Recreation GPS as a Low-Cost Alternative for Introductory Courses in Natural Resources

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has proven reliable for collecting spatial data for integration into a computer-based Geographic Information System (GIS). However, high cost often prohibits the purchase of individual GPS units for each student in a class. Recent advances in technology coupled with decreasing prices have made recreational GPS a low-cost alternative for introductory courses in Natural Resource Management. These units utilize 12-channel receivers, range in price from $115 to$500, and exhibit a point-location accuracy within 14 meters 95% of the time (6.2m - 66% of the time). Although recreational units lack the capacity for differential correction through postprocessing, the addition of real-time differential correction can improve accuracy to less than 9 meters 95% of the time in areas where free differential correction signals are obtainable (4.2m - 66% of the time). Several free computer programs are available for retrieving data from a recreational GPS directly into a GIS. Still others exist as stand-alone software that allows image registration for GPS data overlay. Thus, it is now feasible for students to purchase their own GPS unit for use in introductory classes, in advanced courses, in their research, or in any endeavor requiring spatial data collection for computer-based mapping

Recreation GPS as a low-cost alternative for introductory courses in natural reaources

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has proven reliable for collecting spatial data for integration into a computer-based Geographic Information System (GIS). However, high cost often prohibits the purchase of individual GPS units for each student in a class. Recent advances in technology coupled with decreasing prices have made recreational GPS a low-cost alternative for introductory courses in Natural Resource Management. These units utilize 12-channel receivers, range in price from $115 to$500, and exhibit a point-location accuracy within 14 meters 95% of the time (6.2m - 66% of the time). Although recreational units lack the capacity for differential correction through postprocessing, the addition of real-time differential correction can improve accuracy to less than 9 meters 95% of the time in areas where free differential correction signals are obtainable (4.2m - 66% of the time). Several free computer programs are available for retrieving data from a recreational GPS directly into a GIS. Still others exist as stand-alone software that allows image registration for GPS data overlay. Thus, it is now feasible for students to purchase their own GPS unit for use in introductory classes, in advanced courses, in their research, or in any endeavor requiring spatial data collection for computer-based mapping

Fatal Clostridium perfringens Septicemia After Colonoscopic Polypectomy, Without Bowel Perforation

Since its introduction, colonoscopy has played an important role as a diagnostic, therapeutic, and screening tool. In general, colonoscopy is regarded as a safe procedure, but complications may occur. The most dreaded of these complications is colonic perforation. Bacteremia postprocedure may occur, and although it is not uncommon, it rarely results in clinically significant complications. Patients with IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) are a high-risk population for bacteremia, which may leads to bowel wall overstepping by the bacteria. With regard to that, we report a fatal case of gas gangrene complicating colonoscopy polypectomy without bowel perforation in a healthy adult. To the best of our knowledge, only two other cases of retroperitoneal gas gangrene associated with colonoscopy polypectomy without bowel perforation have been described in international literature, but none of which was completed by a molecular biology analysis

Selective gold and palladium adsorption from standard aqueous solutions

The intensive exploitation of resources on a global level has led to a progressive depletion of mineral reserves, which were proved to be insufficient to meet the high demand for high-technological devices. On the other hand, the continuous production of Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is causing serious environmental problems, due to the complex composition of WEEE, which makes the recycling and reuse particularly challenging. The average metal content of WEEE is estimated to be around 30% and varies depending on the manufacturing period and brand of production. It contains base metals and precious metals, such as gold and palladium. The remaining 70% of WEEEs is composed of plastics, resins, and glassy materials. The recovery of metals from WEEEs is characterized by two main processes well represented by the literature: Pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Both of them require the pre-treatment of WEEEs, such as dismantling and magnetic separation of plastics. In this work, the selective adsorption of precious metals has been attempted, using copper, gold, and palladium aqueous solutions and mixtures of them. A screening on different adsorbent materials such as granular activated carbons and polymers, either as pellets or foams, has been performed. Among these, PolyEther Block Amide (PEBA) was elected as the most performing adsorbent in terms of gold selectivity over copper. Spent PEBA has been then characterized using scanning electron microscope, coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, demonstrating the predominant presence of gold in most analyzed sites, either in the pellet or foam form