108 research outputs found
Enogastronomic products and territory: local specificities and global opportunities for tourism development
openDottorato di ricerca in Scienze manageriali e attuarialiopenCiani, Stefan
The Triathlon sport consumer. A segmentation proposal
In the last decades, triathlon has gained globally an increased popularity. This sport is now a worldwide diffused discipline: triathletes can choose between a wide number of challenges and events, taking place in different corners of the world. The exponential growth of this sport has led to an increasingly relevant weight of triathlon in economic terms: in 2014, revenues of triathlon industry were estimated in $ 2.8 billion only in the United States (Triathlon Business International, 2015). The phenomenon started being increasingly studied by marketing and management research. From a consumer behaviour point of view, triathlon is a quite underresearched topic is related to triathletes\u2019 motivational analysis. Particularly relevant, also in practical terms, appears motivation analysis aimed at identifying the characteristics of individuals performing this peculiar sport discipline. Few works have applied segmentation to the triathlon sport context, while in other sport contexts segmentation was instead applied in a wider number of contributions.
The present research provides an additional point of view on triathlon athletes by providing a segmentation with respect to international triathlon events. Results provide insights both on athletes\u2019 inner characteristics, trigger some considerations about how to harness differences and peculiarities of different athletes, from the point of view of sport event managing organizations. A discussion of touristic implications of triathlon sport events is also provided
Upper limits to surface force disturbances on LISA proof masses and the possibility of observing galactic binaries
We report on the measurement of parasitic surface force noise on a hollow
replica of a LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna for the observation of
gravitational waves) proof mass surrounded by a faithful representation of its
in flight surroundings, namely the capacitive sensor used to detect proof-mass
motion. Parasitic forces are detected through the corresponding torque exerted
on the proof mass and measured with a torsion pendulum in the frequency range
0.1 30 mHz. The sensor electrodes, electrode housing and associated readout
electronics have the same nominal design as for the flight hardware, including
4 mm gaps around the proof mass along the sensitive laser interferometry axis.
We show that the measured upper limit for surface forces would allow detection
of a number of galactic binaries signals with signal to noise ratio up to
approximately 40 for 1 year integration. We also discuss how the flight test
under development, LISA Pathfinder, will substantially improve this limit,
approaching the performance required for LISA.Comment: 3 Figures. Submitted to Physical Review Letter
Oral Contraceptives after Myomectomy: A Short Term Trial
Following myomectomy the rate of fertility is restored and
pregnancy may be attempted with a good outcome. In the present
study a 3 month treatment with OCs in a group of women after a
myomectomy was evaluated. The drug compliance and side effects,
the benefits of OC in order to reduce symptoms, to increase
post-surgical hemoglobin levels and to avoid an early pregnancy
after myomectomy were analyzed. A group of women (n = 55) each with myoma ≥5 cm was recruited: they presented menorrhagia,
pelvic pain, dyspareunia and dysmenorrhae. After laparotomic
myomectomy the women were divided into 3 groups. Group 1: women
(n = 16) treated with pill A (15 mcg of
ethynilestradiol + 60 mcg of gestodene); group 2: women
(n = 23) treated with pill B (20 mcg of
ethynilestradiol + 100 mcg of levonorgestrel); group 3:
women (n = 16) treated with a placebo (oral calcium). After three
months from myomectomy and treatment patients in each group
reported a reduced menorrhagia, dismenorrhea and pelvic pain.
Serum haemoglobin levels increased in all women (P < .05). No pregnancy occurred in any group and the
compliance was good. A post surgery treatment by using oral
contraceptives guarentees pregnancy prevention, associated with
reduction of pain, and improvement of haematologic conditions
Genotyping-by-sequencing of a melon (Cucumis melo L.) germplasm collection from a secondary center of diversity highlights patterns of genetic variation and genomic features of different gene pools
Background: Melon (Cucumis melo L.) is one of the most important horticultural species, which includes several taxonomic groups. With the advent of next-generation sequencing, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers are widely used in the study of genetic diversity and genomics. Results: We report the first successful application of genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technology in melon. We detected 25,422 SNPs by the analysis of 72 accessions collected in Apulia, a secondary centre of diversity in Southern Italy. Analyses of genetic structure, principal components, and hierarchical clustering support the identification of three distinct subpopulations. One of them includes accessions known with the folk name of 'carosello', referable to the chate taxonomic group. This is one of the oldest domesticated forms of C. melo, once widespread in Europe and now exposed to the risk of genetic erosion. The second subpopulation contains landraces of 'barattiere', a regional vegetable production that was never characterized at the DNA level and we show was erroneously considered another form of chate melon. The third subpopulation includes genotypes of winter melon (C. melo var. inodorus). Genetic analysis within each subpopulation revealed patterns of diversity associated with fruit phenotype and geographical origin. We used SNP data to describe, for each subpopulation, the average linkage disequilibrium (LD) decay, and to highlight genomic regions possibly resulting from directional selection and associated with phenotypic variation. Conclusions: We used GBS to characterize patterns of genetic diversity and genomic features within C. melo. We provide useful information to preserve endangered gene pools and to guide the use of germplasm in breeding. Finally, our findings lay a foundation for molecular breeding approaches and the identification of genes underlying phenotypic traits
Hardware-Encoding Grid States in a Non-Reciprocal Superconducting Circuit
We present a circuit design composed of a non-reciprocal device and Josephson
junctions whose ground space is doubly degenerate and the ground states are
approximate codewords of the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) code. We determine
the low-energy dynamics of the circuit by working out the equivalence of this
system to the problem of a single electron confined in a two-dimensional plane
and under the effect of strong magnetic field and of a periodic potential. We
find that the circuit is naturally protected against the common noise channels
in superconducting circuits, such as charge and flux noise, implying that it
can be used for passive quantum error correction. We also propose realistic
design parameters for an experimental realization and we describe possible
protocols to perform logical one- and two-qubit gates, state preparation and
readout
Cyber Security aboard Micro Aerial Vehicles: An OpenTitan-based Visual Communication Use Case
Autonomous Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs), with a form factor of 10cm in
diameter, are an emerging technology thanks to the broad applicability enabled
by their onboard intelligence. However, these platforms are strongly limited in
the onboard power envelope for processing, i.e., less than a few hundred mW,
which confines the onboard processors to the class of simple microcontroller
units (MCUs). These MCUs lack advanced security features opening the way to a
wide range of cyber security vulnerabilities, from the communication between
agents of the same fleet to the onboard execution of malicious code. This work
presents an open source System on Chip (SoC) design that integrates a 64 bit
Linux capable host processor accelerated by an 8 core 32 bit parallel
programmable accelerator. The heterogeneous system architecture is coupled with
a security enclave based on an open source OpenTitan root of trust. To
demonstrate our design, we propose a use case where OpenTitan detects a
security breach on the SoC aboard the MAV and drives its exclusive GPIOs to
start a LED blinking routine. This procedure embodies an unconventional visual
communication between two palm sized MAVs: the receiver MAV classifies the LED
state of the sender (on or off) with an onboard convolutional neural network
running on the parallel accelerator. Then, it reconstructs a high-level message
in 1.3s, 2.3 times faster than current commercial solutions
Heterozygous CDKL5 Knockout Female Mice Are a Valuable Animal Model for CDKL5 Disorder
CDKL5 disorder is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder caused by mutations in the X-linked CDKL5 (cyclin-dependent kinase-like five) gene. CDKL5 disorder primarily affects girls and is characterized by early-onset epileptic seizures, gross motor impairment, intellectual disability, and autistic features. Although all CDKL5 female patients are heterozygous, the most valid disease-related model, the heterozygous female Cdkl5 knockout (Cdkl5 +/-) mouse, has been little characterized. The lack of detailed behavioral profiling of this model remains a crucial gap that must be addressed in order to advance preclinical studies. Here, we provide a behavioral and molecular characterization of heterozygous Cdkl5 +/- mice. We found that Cdkl5 +/- mice reliably recapitulate several aspects of CDKL5 disorder, including autistic-like behaviors, defects in motor coordination and memory performance, and breathing abnormalities. These defects are associated with neuroanatomical alterations, such as reduced dendritic arborization and spine density of hippocampal neurons. Interestingly, Cdkl5 +/- mice show age-related alterations in protein kinase B (AKT) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) signaling, two crucial signaling pathways involved in many neurodevelopmental processes. In conclusion, our study provides a comprehensive overview of neurobehavioral phenotypes of heterozygous female Cdkl5 +/- mice and demonstrates that the heterozygous female might be a valuable animal model in preclinical studies on CDKL5 disorder
Finite Size Effects for the Ising Model on Random Graphs with Varying Dilution
We investigate the finite size corrections to the equilibrium magnetization
of an Ising model on a random graph with nodes and edges, with
. By conveniently rescaling the coupling constant, the free
energy is made extensive. As expected, the system displays a phase transition
of the mean-field type for all the considered values of at the
transition temperature of the fully connected Curie-Weiss model. Finite size
corrections are investigated for different values of the parameter ,
using two different approaches: a replica-based finite expansion, and a
cavity method. Numerical simulations are compared with theoretical predictions.
The cavity based analysis is shown to agree better with numerics.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physica
Idiopathic and acquired pedophilia as two distinct disorders: an insight from neuroimaging
Pedophilia is a disorder of public concern because of its association with child sexual offense and recidivism. Previous neuroimaging studies of potential brain abnormalities underlying pedophilic behavior, either in idiopathic or acquired (i.e., emerging following brain damages) pedophilia, led to inconsistent results. This study sought to explore the neural underpinnings of pedophilic behavior and to determine the extent to which brain alterations may be related to distinct psychopathological features in pedophilia. To this aim, we run a coordinate based meta-analysis on previously published papers reporting whole brain analysis and a lesion network analysis, using brain lesions as seeds in a resting state connectivity analysis. The behavioral profiling approach was applied to link identified regions with the corresponding psychological processes. While no consistent neuroanatomical alterations were identified in idiopathic pedophilia, the current results support that all the lesions causing acquired pedophilia are localized within a shared resting state network that included posterior midlines structures, right inferior temporal gyrus and bilateral orbitofrontal cortex. These regions are associated with action inhibition and social cognition, abilities that are consistently and severely impaired in acquired pedophiles. This study suggests that idiopathic and acquired pedophilia may be two distinct disorders, in line with their distinctive clinical features, including age of onset, reversibility and modus operandi. Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of pedophilic behavior may contribute to a more comprehensive
characterization of these individuals on a clinical ground, a pivotal step forward for the development of more efficient therapeutic rehabilitation strategies
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