Kaon production and propagation at intermediate relativistic energies

We systematically study $K^+$ observables in nucleus-nucleus collisions at 1-2 A GeV within the Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) transport model. We compare our calculations with the KaoS data on the kaon multiplicities and spectra. In addition, the kaon collective flow is computed and compared with the FOPI and KaoS data. We show, that the elliptic kaon flow measured recently by the KaoS Collaboration is best described by using the Brown-Rho parametrization of the kaon potential ($U_K(\rho_0) \simeq 30$ MeV).Comment: 21 pages, 3 tables, 17 figures; references added; version accepted in PR

Past Income Scarcity and Current Perception of Financial Fragility

The aim of this paper is to test whether a temporary experience of income scarcity in the recent past affects the individual’s assessment of financial fragility over time. Using EU-SILC (European Union Statistics on Income and Living Condition) longitudinal data in 2010-2013 period, our results highlight that individuals who transited out of a short spell of scarcity tend to record a lower subjective ability to make ends meet than those who never experienced it during the reference period, even after two years and controlling for the current level of household income. When a more objective measure of household financial health is taken, the effect is weaker and disappears when current income is accounted for. Our results, which are robust to various robustness checks, have implications for public policies since they question the idea that helping people to leave an objective condition of income scarcity is enough to address poverty and social exclusion

Strontium Functionalization of Biomaterials for Bone Tissue Engineering Purposes: A Biological Point of View

Strontium (Sr) is a trace element taken with nutrition and found in bone in close connection to native hydroxyapatite. Sr is involved in a dual mechanism of coupling the stimulation of bone formation with the inhibition of bone resorption, as reported in the literature. Interest in studying Sr has increased in the last decades due to the development of strontium ranelate (SrRan), an orally active agent acting as an anti-osteoporosis drug. However, the use of SrRan was subjected to some limitations starting from 2014 due to its negative side effects on the cardiac safety of patients. In this scenario, an interesting perspective for the administration of Sr is the introduction of Sr ions in biomaterials for bone tissue engineering (BTE) applications. This strategy has attracted attention thanks to its positive effects on bone formation, alongside the reduction of osteoclast activity, proven by in vitro and in vivo studies. The purpose of this review is to go through the classes of biomaterials most commonly used in BTE and functionalized with Sr, i.e., calcium phosphate ceramics, bioactive glasses, metal-based materials, and polymers. The works discussed in this review were selected as representative for each type of the above-mentioned categories, and the biological evaluation in vitro and/or in vivo was the main criterion for selection. The encouraging results collected from the in vitro and in vivo biological evaluations are outlined to highlight the potential applications of materials’ functionalization with Sr as an osteopromoting dopant in BTE

Social transfers and poverty in Europe: comparing social exclusion and targeting across welfare regimes

This paper studies whether there are systematic differences in the ability of cash transfers, belonging to different welfare systems, to reach the poor and to lift them out of poverty. We structure the analysis following the classic breakdown of the various European welfare states into welfare regimes, in search of specific features of them that can explain the variable results shown in the ability to effectively tackle economic poverty. The analysis is carried out both with a cross-sectional approach as well as using a more long-run definition of persistent poverty

Does ozonation enhance activated carbon adsorption of PFAS in textile wastewater?

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are used in numerous industrial applications, such as in textile manufacturing, because of their special chemical properties. To avoid PFAS spread in the environment, removal strategies need to be implemented at the wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) to reduce their environmental risk on receiving water bodies. The fate of 14 PFAS in a full-scale WWTP treating textile and civil wastewater (WW) was investigated. The addition of an adsorption step before or after the ozonation process was studied through adsorption isotherms tested on the WW collected before and after the full-scale ozonation step. Ozonation is not aimed at PFAS removing, but it lowers organic matter competition towards long-chain PFAS in the following adsorption step. The removal of UVA254 seems to be a good proxy variable for PFAS adsorption, with relationships not dependent on the presence of ozonation step