Measuring and Analyzing the Liquidity of the Italian Treasury Security Wholesale Secondary Market

Although its importance, only recently the issue of liquidity in Treasury markets has received greater attention. We survey the literature about market liquidity and liquidity measures, and we put forward new measures. The aim is to provide a description of the liquidity of the Italian wholesale secondary market, which we describe thoroughly. We apply a large set of measures on a unique dataset, which gives us a complete view of the market. Even though the market provides an amount of liquidity that fits the market needs, the quality of the order book is low, and despite the presence of a large number of market makers, the degree of competition among them is not very high. Moreover, no clear and general relationship emerges between trading and order book measures. Indeed, even though trading activity is higher for on-the-run securities with respect to the off-the-run securities, there is not a sharp difference in terms of liquidity of the order book between them. In this case market regulation plays an important role. Finally, we investigate how long it takes for a new issue to become the benchmark for its segment. Our evidence shows that some modifications of the issuance policy in order to have a larger outstanding since the first auction could help securities in gaining earlier their benchmark status, especially in case of 10-year BTPs.Liquidity, liquidity measures, Government securities, market microstructure, benchmark status.

Individual Earnings, International Outsourcing and Technological Change.

The aim of this paper is to empirically evaluate the relative effects of international outsourcing of materials and services and of ICT capital deepening on wage inequality between blue and white collars in the Italian manufacturing industry during the period 1985-1999. We merge an administrative data set on workers\' wages and individual characteristics with data on imported inputs from Italian input-output tables and other sector-level variables. Our results confirm that both material and service outsourcing widen the skilled/unskilled wage gap while ICT capital deepening positively affects real wages regardless of the worker\'s status. However, important differences emerge when the overall sample is split between traditional and innovative sectors.International Outsourcing, ICT, Wage Inequality

Thermophysical properties of compressed earth blocks incorporating natural materials

Building materials are responsible for significant CO2 emissions and energy consumption, both during production and operational phases. Earth as a building material offers a valuable alternative to conventional materials, as it naturally provides high hygrothermal comfort and air quality even with passive conditioning systems. However, disadvantages related to high density, conductivity, and wall thickness prevent its effective inclusion in the mainstream. This research explores enhancing the thermophysical properties of compressed earth blocks (CEBs) by using locally sourced natural materials. The study is framed in the Portuguese context and the natural materials involved are wheat straw (WS) as a by-product of wheat harvesting, cork granules (CGs) from bottle caps, and ground olive stone (GOSs) residues from olive oil production. Blocks were produced with different mixtures of these materials and the thermal response was examined in a hot box apparatus. Best results include a 20 and 26% reduction in thermal conductivity for mixtures with 5v.% CG and 10v.% GOS, respectively, and an associated reduction in bulk density of 3.8 and 5.4%. The proposed approach therefore proves to be effective in improving the key thermophysical characteristics of CEBs. The article includes a comparative analysis of the experimental data from this study with those from the literature. The study contributes to the growing knowledge of sustainable materials, providing insights for researchers and practitioners looking for innovative solutions for low-carbon and energy-efficient materials.This work is funded by national funds through FCT, Foundation for Science and Technology, under grant agreement UIBD/150874/2021 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UI/BD/150874/2021, accessed 23 April 2024), attributed to the first author. The work is partly financed by Fundação “La Caixa” (Programa Promove) under the project BTCpro with the reference PV20-00072. The work is also partly financed by FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), reference UIDB/04029/2020 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04029/2020, accessed 23 April 2024), and under the Associate Laboratory Advanced Production and Intelligent Systems ARISE, reference LA/P/0112/2020

Artificial neural networks to predict the mechanical properties of natural fibre-reinforced Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs)

The purpose of this study is to explore Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) to predict the compressive and tensile strengths of natural fibre-reinforced Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs). To this end, a database was created by collecting data from the available literature. Data relating to 332 specimens (Database 1) were used for the prediction of the compressive strength (ANN1), and, due to the lack of some information, those relating to 130 specimens (Database 2) were used for the prediction of the tensile strength (ANN2). The developed tools showed high accuracy, i.e., correlation coefficients (R-value) equal to 0.97 for ANN1 and 0.91 for ANN2. Such promising results prompt their applicability for the design and orientation of experimental campaigns and support numerical investigations.This work was funded by the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology), under grant agreement UIBD/150874/2021 attributed to the first author. This work was also partly financed by Fundação “La Caixa”, under the reference PV20-00072, and FCT/MCTES through national funds (PIDDAC) under the R&D Unit Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE), under reference UIDB/04029/2020

Between Innovation and Conservation: The Narrow Path of User Interface Design for Digital Scholarly Editions

In 2016, the Edition Visualization Technology (EVT: evt.labcd.unipi.it/) team started the design phase necessary for the development of the next version of this tool aimed at easy publishing of TEI XML-based digital editions: the current version (EVT 1.2), in fact, only supports diplomatic transcriptions linked to the corresponding manuscript images; EVT 2.0 will fully support critical editions encoded according to the TEI parallel segmentation method. To reach this goal, a completely new approach based on the AngularJS framework and the MVC (Model View Controller) architectural pattern was necessary because the old architecture, relying on XSLT 2.0 transformations, was no longer flexible enough to meet all the UI and navigation requirements of critical editions. Furthermore, during the design phase we decided that in some cases keeping a layout inspired by traditional printed editions would be a great help for our final users. After a long but interesting development process, a beta version of EVT 2 is out: we believe that the UI layout and solutions we devised are both effective in the short term, for all the projects that will adopt EVT, and a significant contribution to the theoretical discussion revolving around the very concept of DSE

Abscisic acid transport in human erythrocytes

Abscisic acid (ABA) is a plant hormone involved in the response to environmental stress. Recently, ABA has been shown to be present and active also in mammals, where it stimulates the functional activity of innate immune cells, of mesenchymal and hemopoietic stem cells, and insulin-releasing pancreatic \u3b2-cells. LANCL2, the ABA receptor in mammalian cells, is a peripheral membrane protein that localizes at the intracellular side of the plasma membrane. Here we investigated the mechanism enabling ABA transport across the plasmamembrane of human red blood cells (RBC). Both influx and efflux of [3H]ABA occur across intact RBC, as detected by radiometric and chromatographic methods. ABA binds specifically to Band 3 (the RBC anion transporter), as determined by labeling of RBC membranes with biotinylated ABA. Proteoliposomes reconstituted with human purified Band 3 transport [3H]ABA and [35S]sulfate, and ABA transport is sensitive to the specific Band 3 inhibitor 4,4\u2032-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2\u2032-disulfonic acid. Once inside RBC, ABA stimulates ATP release through the LANCL2-mediated activation of adenylate cyclase. As ATP released from RBC is known to exert a vasodilator response, these results suggest a role for plasma ABA in the regulation of vascular ton

Innovative thermal and acoustic insulation foam from recycled waste glass powder

An innovative powder-foaming process able to produce thermal and acoustic insulating foams obtained by sol-gel and a subsequent freeze-drying process was developed. Gel containing glass powder was formed using alginate, a polysaccharide composed of 1-4linked \u3b1-L-guluronic acid and \u3b2-D-mannuronic acid, capable to form stable gels in presence of calcium cations. In order to obtain a porous foam, gels were frozen and then freeze-dried. Foam properties strongly depend on production parameters, particle dimension and different binder concentrations, their influence was investigated. The resulting glass foams were characterized in order to evaluate structure, density, mechanical and acoustic properties. The results pointed out an improved acoustic insulating performance respect to rock wool. Foams were also subjected to a thermal process to better fix powders into the final glass structure

Profile of a new extended range-of-vision IOL: a laboratory study

Purpose To evaluate the surface profile of a new-generation extended range-of-vision intraocular lens (IOL) and to compare it with that obtained for a monofocal IOL based on the same platform. Methods Prospective, experimental, laboratory study comparing the surface profile of the DFT015 (AcrySof IQ Vivity; Alcon Laboratories, Inc.), a new-generation presbyopia-correcting IOL, with the profile of the SN60WF (AcrySof IQ; Alcon Laboratories, Inc.), an aspheric monofocal IOL based on the same platform. Raw profiles were obtained using contact profilometry. The best-fit form was then subtracted from each raw profile to highlight potential differences. Results No significant differences were appreciated in raw profiles. On the contrary, after form removal, the new extended range-of-vision IOL showed a peculiar profile characterized by the presence of two altitudinal symmetrical changes in the order of 1 µm, localized in the central portion of the optic. Conclusions The new-generation extended range-of-vision IOL evaluated showed a smooth change of its surface compared to the same platform monofocal IOL. The altitudinal changes blended in the central design of the new presbyopia-correcting IOL, although micrometric, might play a crucial role in creating a continuous focal range while minimizing visual disturbances.Open access funding provided by Università degli Studi di Trieste within the CRUI-CARE Agreement