Confronto tra i deflussi misurati e i deflussi stimati nel bacino idrografico del Fiume Nievole (Toscana) come potenziale contributo alla conoscenza degli apporti liquidi nel Padule di Fucecchio

Dopo aver delineato la localizzazione, le caratteristiche litologiche e climatiche del bacino del fiume Nievole, sotteso da una stazione di misura idrometrografica posta in località Colonna, è stato calcolato il bilancio idrico del suolo, sfruttando il metodo proposto da Thornthwaite. Poichè le stazioni metereologiche necessarie a tale bilancio sono situate, anche se vicine, al di fuori di tale bacino, è stato necessario calcolare i gradienti termico e pluviometrico per poter ottenere i valori delle temperature e delle precipitazioni per le diverse fasce altimetriche del bacino. Una volta sviluppato il bilancio idrico mediante l'utilizzo del programma "Evaporum" sono stati confrontati i deflussi ottenuti con quelli misurati dalla stazione idrometrografica di Colonna, riscontrando uno scarto del 13,9%

Selection methods for subgame perfect Nash equilibrium in a continuous setting

This thesis is focused on the issue of selection of Subgame Perfect Nash Equilibrium (SPNE) in the class of one-leader N-follower two-stage games where the players have a continuum of actions. We are mainly interested in selection methods satisfying the following significant features in the theory of equilibrium selection for such a class of games: obtaining an equilibrium selection by means of a constructive (in the sense of algorithmic) and motivated procedure, overcoming the difficulties due to the possible non-single-valuedness of the followers' best reply correspondence, providing motivations that would induce players to choose the actions leading to the designed selection, and revealing the leader to know the followers' best reply correspondence. Firstly, we analyze the case where the followers' best reply correspondence is assumed to be single-valued: in this case we show that finding SPNEs is equivalent to find the Stackelberg solutions of the Stackelberg problem associated to the game. Moreover, as regards to the related arising issue of the sufficient conditions ensuring the uniqueness of the followers' best reaction, we prove an existence and uniqueness result for Nash equilibria in two-player normal-form games where the action sets are Hilbert spaces and which allows the two compositions of the best reply functions to be not a contraction mapping. Furthermore, by applying such a result to the class of weighted potential games, we show the (lack of) connections between the Nash equilibria and the maximizers of the potential function. Then, in the case where the followers' best reply correspondence is not assumed to be single-valued, we examine preliminarily the SPNE selections deriving by exploiting the solutions of broadly studied problems in Optimization Theory (like the strong Stackelberg, the weak Stackelberg and the intermediate Stackelberg problems associated to the game). Since such selection methods, although behaviourally motivated, do not fit all the desirable features mentioned before, we focus on designing constructive methods to select an SPNE based on the Tikhonov regularization and on the proximal point methods (linked to the Moreau-Yosida regularization). After illustrated these two tools both in the optimization framework and in the applications to the selection of Nash equilibria in normal-form games, we present a constructive selection method for SPNEs based on the Tikhonov regularization in one-leader N-follower two-stage games (with N=1 and N>1), and a constructive selection method for SPNEs based on a learning approach which has a behavioural interpretation linked to the costs that players face when they deviate from their current actions (relying on the proximal point methods) in one-leader one-follower two-stage games

Optimization of the production process of the Dermatophagoides spp. mites and of its allergens.

Questa tesi è frutto della collaborazione tra l'Università e Lofarma S.p.A., un’azienda farmaceutica italiana leader nel settore che produce preparati per pazienti allergici come kit diagnostici e immunoterapie. A tale scopo nel reparto di Acarologia ogni anno vengono allevati e raccolti decine di chilogrammi di acari adulti e, dopo alcune manipolazioni, utilizzati nel reparto produttivo come materia prima per la maggior parte delle formulazioni. Lo scopo di questo progetto è analizzare l'attuale metodo di produzione e studiare se alcuni passaggi potrebbero essere ottimizzati per migliorare la resa, il tasso di produzione e la qualità della materia prima, cercando nel contempo di ridurre costi e tempi di lavorazione. La ricerca è stata suddivisa in 2 aree principali: 1) Procedure di Allevamento (valutazione della qualità della dieta e del ceppo allevato) e 2) Manipolazioni della Materia Prima (ottimizzazione del processo di pulizia e valorizzazione della materia prima). Tra questi, i risultati più significativi sono stati raggiunti nella sezione Manipolazione delle Materie Prime, dove viene descritto un nuovo processo di rifinitura in grado di ottenere rese finali più elevate in tempistiche più brevi. Dopo aver analizzato l'intero ciclo produttivo, è possibile concludere che, nel contesto del Reparto di Acarologia, è più conveniente procedere con una migliore manipolazione della materia prima piuttosto che modificare le attuali metodiche di allevamento, che sembrano già adatte per le esigenze di Lofarma.This thesis is based on collaboration between University and Lofarma S.p.A., a leading Italian pharmaceutical company which produce preparation for allergic patients like diagnostic kits and immunotherapies. To this purpose every year dozens of kilograms of adult mites are reared and collected in the Acarology department and, after manipulations, used in the Production Department as raw material for most of the preparation. The aim of this project is to analyze the current production methodology of Acarology department and investigate if some steps could be optimized to improve the yield, the production rate and the quality of the raw material while trying to reduce costs and processing times. The research has been divided in 2 main areas: 1) Rearing Procedures (quality assessment about the diet and the strain enacted) and 2) Raw Material Manipulations (optimization of the refining process and valorization of the Raw Material). Between those, most significant results have been achieved in the Raw Material Manipulation section, where is described a novel refining process capable of obtaining higher final yields in a shorter working time. After analyzing the whole manufacturing cycle, is possible to conclude that, within the context of the Acarology Department, is more convenient to proceed with a better manipulation of the raw material in the refining process rather than modifying the actual rearing procedure, which is already suitable for Lofarma needs

DEMO WCLL BB breeding zone cooling system design: analysis and discussion

The Water-Cooled Lithium-Lead (WCLL) Breeding Blanket (BB) is a key component in charge of ensuring Tritium self-sufficiency, shielding the Vacuum Vessel and removing the heat generated in the tokamak plasma. The last function is fulfilled by the First Wall (FW) and Breeding Zone (BZ) independent cooling systems. Several layouts of BZ coolant system have been investigated in the last years in order to identify a configuration that guarantee Eurofer temperature below the limit (823 K) and good thermal-hydraulic performances (i.e. water outlet temperature 601 K). A research activity is conducted to study and compare four configurations, which rely on different arrangement of the stiffening plates (i.e. toroidal-poloidal and radial-poloidal), orientation of the cooling pipes (i.e. horizontal, vertical) and PbLi flow path. The analysis is carried out using a CFD codes, thus a threedimensional finite volume model of each configuration is developed, adopting the commercial ANSYS CFX code. The objective is to compare the BZ cooling system layouts, identifying and discussing advantages and key issues from the thermal-hydraulic point of view, also considering feedbacks from MHD and neutronics analyses. The research activity aims at laying the groundwork for the finalization of the WCLL blanket design, pointing out relevant thermal-hydraulic aspects

Infrastructure, Tariff and Legal Action: How to Achieve a Climate-Friendly Transport System

Transportation absorbs about 70% of oil consumption in EU countries. The fuels that burn in the field of transport are composed of 96% of oil. Energy efficiency of road and air traffic must also be improved. But transport environmental impacts reductions should be made necessarily through a transfer of traffic from the car, lorries and aircraft to train, ship, and non motorized two-wheelers into the EU cities. In fact the former are large producers of greenhouse gases, while the latter are more environmentally friendly means of transport in climate. Reaching an annual increase of 1% of the modal split in favour of more sustainable means of transport on the environment must be set as a goal ecologic. Legal, infrastructure and tariff measures have to be proposed, in addition to technical measures (reduction of traffic, growth in the energy efficiency of vehicles, reduction of ravelled distances, improved logistics, etc.). Legal measures refer to possible law limits in terms on fuel consumption and CO2 emissions due to traffic set by the EU. Infrastructure measures can be distinguished on the basis of the concerned territory. On the one hand there is the city, where it seems appropriate to move with intermodal chain, more secure and environmentally friendly. On the other hand there are fundamentally the suburbs, where investment in new transport infrastructures may be contradictory in terms of climate protection. Tariff measures express the already established concept of "who produces pollution, he pays". The external costs generated by different modes of transport have to be progressively turned over to users

Ergodicity in randomly perturbed quantum systems

The theoretical cornerstone of statistical mechanics is the ergodic assumption that all accessible configurations of a physical system are equally likely. Here we show how such property arises when an open quantum system is continuously perturbed by an external environment effectively observing the system at random times while the system dynamics approaches the quantum Zeno regime. In this context, by large deviation theory we analytically show how the most probable value of the probability for the system to be in a given state eventually deviates from the non-stochastic case when the Zeno condition is not satisfied. We experimentally test our results with ultra-cold atoms prepared on an atom chip.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Titratable fixed-ratio combination of insulin glargine plus lixisenatide: A simplified approach to glycemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Abstract Approximately 50% of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) do not achieve glycemic targets and require treatment intensification. A fixed-ratio combination of a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) with basal insulin, such as lixisenatide with insulin glargine (iGlarLixi), exploits the complementary mechanisms of action of each component to address hyperglycemia while mitigating potential adverse events (AEs). The iGlarLixi dose is titrated considering the effect of basal insulin on fasting plasma glucose, and the fixed-ratio combination ensures that the lixisenatide dose never exceeds 20 μg/day. We describe the characteristics of iGlarLixi therapy, based on the LixiLan clinical program, and provide guidance on the characteristics of patients likely to benefit from such treatment in routine clinical practice. In the phase III LixiLan trials, iGlarLixi resulted in significantly greater reductions in glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), better achievement of HbA1c targets, less glycemic variability versus insulin glargine, lixisenatide or GLP-1 RA alone, and was associated with weight control, less hypoglycemia versus insulin glargine, and fewer GI AEs versus lixisenatide. Findings were consistent regardless of age, diabetes duration, and baseline HbA1c. The efficacy, safety, and convenient once-daily administration schedule of iGlarLixi make it a valuable treatment option for patients with T2DM requiring treatment intensification