The introduction of mandatory inter-municipal cooperation in small municipalities: preliminary lessons from Italy

PurposeThis article studies effects of mandatory inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) in small Italian municipalities. Data from 280 small Italian municipalities on effects of IMC in terms of higher efficiency, better effectiveness of local public services, and greater institutional legitimacy of the small municipalities participating in IMC have been investigated against four variables: size; geographical area; type of inter-municipal integration and IMC membership (the presence in the IMC of a bigger municipality, the so-called big brother).Design/methodology/approachData were gathered from a mail survey that was sent to a random sample of 1,360 chief financial officers acting in municipalities of under 5,000 inhabitants, stratified by size (0–1,000 and 1,001–5,000) and geographic area (North, Center, and South) criteria. To analyze dependency relationships between the three potential effects of participating in IMC and possible explanatory variables, we used a logistic regression model as the benefits were binarily categorized (presence or absence of benefits).FindingsFindings show that in more than two-thirds of the municipalities participating in IMC there were benefits in terms of costs reduction and better public services, whereas greater institutional legitimacy was detected in about half of the cases. Our statistical analysis with logistic regression highlighted that IMC type is particularly critical for explaining successful IMC. In particular, positive effects of IMC were mainly detected in those small municipalities that promoted a service delivery organization rather than participating in service delivery agreements or opting for mixed arrangements of joint public services delivery.Originality/valueThe paper focuses on small municipalities where studies are usually scant. Our analysis highlighted that the organizational setting is particularly critical for explaining successful IMC

Co-fermentation of onion and whey: a promising synbiotic combination

Juice from three different onion varieties was mixed with sweet whey and used as growth 18 substrate for four lactic acid bacteria strains, isolated from agri-food by-products, to 19 evaluate the possibility to exploit such substrates, known to be reach in bioactive 20 molecules, as fermented drinks for human consumption. Results show good growth 21 performance for Lactobacillus fabifermentans, L. plantarum and Streptococcus 22 macedonicus. On the contrary S. thermophilus did not grow in the mixture while S. 23 macedonicus did not develop in pure onion juice. After 48 h the overall sugar content 24 decreased significantly. In particular, glucose was not utilized while inulin was completely 25 preserved. Moreover, MS/MS analysis revealed the presence of the rare trisaccharide 26 lactosucrose. 27 In the light of these considerations, the formulation obtained may be considered a potential 28 synbiotic product with pleasant taste and beneficial effects for consumers and also an eco-29 friendly solution to convert an agro-food by-product into value added products

INFLUENCE OF ILLUMINATION CHANGES ON IMAGE-BASED 3D SURFACE RECONSTRUCTION

Abstract. The paper investigates the influence of lighting conditions on image-based 3D surface reconstruction, with particular focus on periodic photogrammetric surveys for monitoring and 3D mapping applications. The analyses focus on the accuracy and completeness of each DSM and the daily and hourly repeatability of repeated photogrammetric surveys. Three test sites with rock slopes with a different orientation to the sun and different slope characteristics (slope, pattern, amount of outcropping elements that cast shadows) have been considered to ensure that results can give a general indication of the behaviours in different light conditions. In addition, a simulated virtual test site is included in the study to allow controlled image acquisition and evaluate the effect of the sun's inclination on the DSM accuracy without influence of other weather conditions. The results show that, although there is an optimal time for the acquisitions, if particularly unfavourable light conditions are excluded, the accuracy reduction with time variation is always below 30%. The repeatability analyses by day and by time highlight a good consistence between DEMs belonging to the same day but acquired at different times and, also, between DEMs acquired at the same time but on different days. This suggests that reliable results can be obtained during continuous monitoring of, for instance, rock faces to identify rockfalls

Antiradical and antimicrobial properties of fermented red chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) by-products

Discarded leaves of red chicory (Radicchio \u201cRosso di Chioggia\u201d IGP) were fermented with one Saccharomyces yeast and four lactic acid bacteria chosen on the basis of their ability to grow on plant material without any need of supplements. Antiradical and antimicrobial activities of the resulting products were assessed. Among the strains tested, Lactobacillus plantarum and L. hilgardii gave the best performances and also provided fermented substrates with antiradical and antimicrobial activities. In particular the latter compounds were found only in fermented samples, confirming that the choice of appropriate microorganisms for fermentation could be useful when the aim is to target specific functional foods starting from by-products or waste material

a Comparison of Low-Cost Cameras Applied to Fixed Multi-Image Monitoring Systems

Abstract. Photogrammetry is becoming a widely used technique for slope monitoring and rock fall data collection. Its scalability, simplicity of components and low costs for hardware and operations makes its use constantly increasing for both civil and mining applications. Recent on site permanent installation of cameras resulted particularly viable for the monitoring of extended surfaces at very reasonable costs. The current work investigates the performances of a customised Raspberry Pi camera module V2 system and three additional low-cost camera systems including an ELP-USB8MP02G camera module, a compact digital camera (Nikon S3100) and a DSLR (Nikon D3). All system, except the Nikon D3, are available at comparable price. The comparison was conducted by collecting images of rock surfaces, one located in Australia and three located in Italy, from distances between 55 and 110 m. Results are presented in terms of image quality and three dimensional reconstruction error. Thereby, the multi-view reconstructions are compared to a reference model acquired with a terrestrial laser scanner

Macro Asset Allocation with Social Impact Investments

Using a unique dataset of 50 listed companies that meet the majority of the OECD requirements for Social Impact Investments, we construct a Social Impact Finance stock index and investigate how investing in Social Impact Firms can contribute to portfolio risk-return performance. We build portfolios with three different methodologies (na\uefve, Markowitz mean-variance optimization, GARCH-copula model), and we study the performance in terms of returns, Sharpe ratio, utility and forecast premium based on a Constant Relative Risk Aversion function for investors with different levels of risk aversion. Consistent with the idea that Social Impact Investment can improve portfolio risk-return performance, the results of our macro asset allocation analysis show the importance of a large fraction of investor portfolios stake committed to Social Impact Investments

Persistence of Unintegrated HIV DNA Associates With Ongoing NK Cell Activation and CD34+DNAM-1brightCXCR4+ Precursor Turnover in Vertically Infected Patients Despite Successful Antiretroviral Treatment

none11noThe quantification of proviral DNA is raising interest in view of clinical management and functional HIV eradication. Measures of all unintegrated HIV DNA (uDNA) forms in infected reservoir cells provides information on recent replication events that is not found from other proviral DNA assays. To evaluate its actual relevance in a cohort of perinatally-infected adult HIV patients (PHIV), we studied how peripheral blood mononuclear cell uDNA levels correlated with total HIV DNA (tDNA) and with overall replication or innate immune control parameters including NK cell activation/exhaustion and lymphoid turnover. Twenty-two PHIV were included, with successfully controlled HIV (HIV RNA <50 copies/mL) on combined antiretroviral therapy for mean of 8.7 ± 3.9 years. uDNA accounted for 16 [5.2-83.5] copies/µg and was strongly correlated with tDNA (ρ=0.700, p=0.001). Flow cytometric analysis of peripheral NK cells showed that CD69 expression was directly correlated uDNA (p=0.0412), but not with tDNA. Interestingly, CD56-CD16+NK cells which include newly described inflammatory precursors and terminally differentiated cells were directly correlated with uDNA levels (p<0.001), but not with tDNA, and an inverse association was observed between the proportion of NKG2D+ NK cells and uDNA (ρ=-0.548, p=0.015). In addition, CD34+DNAM-1brightCXCR4+ inflammatory precursor frequency correlated directly with uDNA levels (ρ=0.579, p=0.0075). The frequencies of CD56-CD16+ and CD34+DNAM-1brightCXCR4+ cells maintained association with uDNA levels in a multivariable analysis (p=0.045 and p=0.168, respectively). Thus, control of HIV-1 reservoir in aviremic patients on ART is an active process associated with continuous NK cell intervention and turnover, even after many years of treatment. Quantification of linear and circular uDNA provides relevant information on the requirement for ongoing innate immune control in addition to ART, on recent replication history and may help stratify patients for functional HIV eradication protocols with targeted options.openTaramasso, Lucia; Bozzano, Federica; Casabianca, Anna; Orlandi, Chiara; Bovis, Francesca; Mora, Sara; Giacomini, Mauro; Moretta, Lorenzo; Magnani, Mauro; Di Biagio, Antonio; De Maria, AndreaTaramasso, Lucia; Bozzano, Federica; Casabianca, Anna; Orlandi, Chiara; Bovis, Francesca; Mora, Sara; Giacomini, Mauro; Moretta, Lorenzo; Magnani, Mauro; Di Biagio, Antonio; De Maria, Andre

Targeting the Endothelin-1 Receptors Curtails Tumor Growth and Angiogenesis in Multiple Myeloma

The endothelin-1 (ET-1) receptors were recently found to mediate pro-survival functions in multiple myeloma (MM) cells in response to autocrine ET-1. This study investigated the effectiveness of macitentan, a dual ET-1 receptor antagonist, in MM treatment, and the mechanisms underlying its activities. Macitentan affected significantly MM cell (RPMI-8226, U266, KMS-12-PE) survival and pro-angiogenic cytokine release by down-modulating ET-1-activated MAPK/ERK and HIF-1 alpha pathways, respectively. HIF-1 alpha silencing abrogated the ET-1 mediated induction of genes encoding for pro-angiogenic cytokines such as VEGF-A, IL-8, Adrenomedullin, and ET-1 itself. Upon exposure to macitentan, MM cells cultured in the presence of the hypoxia-mimetic agent CoCl2, exogenous ET-1, or CoCl2 plus ET-1, down-regulated HIF-1 alpha and the transcription and release of downstream pro-angiogenic cytokines. Consistently, macitentan limited significantly the basal pro-angiogenic activity of RPMI-8226 cells in chorioallantoic membrane assay. In xenograft mouse models, established by injecting NOG mice either via intra-caudal vein with U266 or subcutaneously with RPMI-8226 cells, macitentan reduced effectively the number of MM cells infiltrating bone marrow, and the size and microvascular density of subcutaneous MM tumors. ET-1 receptors targeting by macitentan represents an effective anti-proliferative and anti-angiogenic therapeutic approach in preclinical settings of MM

Validation of an Automated System for the Extraction of a Wide Dataset for Clinical Studies Aimed at Improving the Early Diagnosis of Candidemia

: There is increasing interest in assessing whether machine learning (ML) techniques could further improve the early diagnosis of candidemia among patients with a consistent clinical picture. The objective of the present study is to validate the accuracy of a system for the automated extraction from a hospital laboratory software of a large number of features from candidemia and/or bacteremia episodes as the first phase of the AUTO-CAND project. The manual validation was performed on a representative and randomly extracted subset of episodes of candidemia and/or bacteremia. The manual validation of the random extraction of 381 episodes of candidemia and/or bacteremia, with automated organization in structured features of laboratory and microbiological data resulted in ≥99% correct extractions (with confidence interval &lt; ±1%) for all variables. The final automatically extracted dataset consisted of 1338 episodes of candidemia (8%), 14,112 episodes of bacteremia (90%), and 302 episodes of mixed candidemia/bacteremia (2%). The final dataset will serve to assess the performance of different ML models for the early diagnosis of candidemia in the second phase of the AUTO-CAND project

“Destinazione Futuro”, un esperimento INAF di riflessione condivisa riguardo il tempo che verrà. Report edizione anno 2021

Il 21 maggio del 2021, in occasione dell’avvicinarsi di due importanti ricorrenze a cavallo tra scienza e fantascienza (in agosto dell’anno ricorre il centenario dalla nascita di Gene Roddenberry, creatore di Star Trek e il ventennale dalla morte di Fred Hoyle, celebre scienziato e scrittore di fantascienza) si è lanciato un progetto per ascoltare il grande pubblico su una serie di questioni riguardanti la visione personale del futuro, mantenendo un registro intermedio tra scienza e fantascienza. Le risposte pervenute (frutto di più di duecento compilazioni) sono state valutate dagli organizzatori e in parte condivise con alcuni esperti in varie discipline, che sono stati intervistati per una serie di articoli pubblicati - uno alla settimana - durante l’estate 2021 sulla testata EduINAF. L’iniziativa si inserisce in un dialogo tra INAF e il pubblico più vasto, che in un periodo assai critico - a motivo delle restrizioni causate dalla pandemia COVID19 - ha potuto esprimere le proprie speranze e anche i disagi, ritrovando un Ente in ascolto e non chiuso nel proprio sapere, che anzi ha fatto degli input del pubblico uno strumento di ulteriore lavoro con selezionati esperti. Considerata la risposta molto positiva e il buon numero di compilazioni del questionario, si concorda di lasciare aperta la possibilità di produrre ulteriori interviste, contattando successivamente altri esperti, in modo che i dati raccolti possano venire usati in modi ancora diversi, accogliendo gli spunti che essi offrono per un lavoro capace di condurre in innumerevoli direzioni, molte delle quali ancora inesplorate