The accessibility produced by a local transit network

This research sets some accessibility indicators referred to a road intercity transit system for commuting users within a district. The aim is to make available some accessibility measure tools by which evaluate the effects, on this performance, of the actions designed for a local transit network

Un costo di riferimento per i servizi di trasporto pubblico urbano

This paper works out some methodologies to calculate a reference cost for the urban transit service. As reference cost we intend a medium efficiency cost related to a real sample, differing from the standard cost; this last one, in fact, according to the Italian Law 151/1981, is a maximum efficiency cost related to the service quality and to the environment where the service is produced. The first two ones of the three methodologies proposed for the assessment of the reference cost are based on the synthetic assessment approach, the last one on the analytical approach: particularly the first methodology lies in a synthetic model construction, the second one in the quantification of cost medium values corresponding to meaning intervals of the variables affecting the efficiency; the third methodology, analytical one, derives from the practices tuned by the Italian regions to calculate the standard cost. In the end, to test the set methodologies, the paper works out an application to a sample of some municipal transit services

Un modello sintetico per il dimensionamento dei servizi minimi di trasporto comunale

The research examines the relationship between the municipality transit demands and the country attributes and builds a generally expendable synthetic model to assess the public transit haul. The data-base effected to support the data processing includes 157 public transit subsidy recipient municipalities located in 4 different Italian regions. The selection of the model independent variables is been marked by the international literature on the topic and it has required the analysis of each variable and a verify of statistical inference by the Fisher and Student tests; we have also assess the risk of collinearity among the selected independent variables by the Variance inflationary factor. The calibration was made by multiple regressions with a growing grade (linear, quadratic, cubic and so on) until remains appeared not-aggregable. After an introduction (section 1) that explains the topic relevance and a state-of-the-art (section 2) aimed also to identify the most important variables affecting the phenomenon, sections 3 and 4 deal with the selection of the significant variables and the model building and calibration respectively; the last section (5) discusses the results and the applicative spin-off

Simultaneous Dependence of the Earthquake-Size Distribution on Faulting Style and Depth

We analyze two high-quality Southern Californian earthquake catalogues, one with focal mechanisms, to statistically model and test for dependencies of the earthquake-size distribution, the b values, on both faulting style and depth. In our null hypothesis, b is assumed constant. We then develop and calibrate one model based only on faulting style, another based only on depth dependence and two models that assume a simultaneous dependence on both parameters. We develop a new maximum-likelihood estimator corrected for the degrees of freedom to assess models' performances. Our results show that all models significantly reject the null hypothesis. The best performing is the one that simultaneously takes account of depth and faulting style. Our results suggest that differential stress variations in the Earth's crust systematically influence b values and that this variability should be considered for contemporary seismic hazard studies

Obsessive-Compulsive Aspects and Pathological Gambling in an Italian Sample

INTRODUCTION: Gambling behaviour appears as repetitive and difficult to resist and seems to be aimed at neutralizing or reducing negative feelings such as anxiety and tension, confirming its similarities with the obsessive-compulsive spectrum. Aims. Estimating the prevalence of gambling behaviour in an Italian sample and assessing the effects of sociodemographic variables and the correlations between gambling behaviour and obsessive-compulsive features. METHODS: A sample of 300 Italian subjects was evaluated based on gambling behaviours and obsessive-compulsive attitudes. The assessment was carried out in small centers in Italy, mainly in coffee and tobacco shops, where slot machines are located, using the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) and the MOCQ-R, a reduced form of Maudsley Obsessional-Compulsive Questionnaire. RESULTS: A negative correlation between SOGS and MOPQ-R, with reference to the control and cleaning subscales, was evidenced in the majority of the examined subjects. Both evaluating instruments showed reliability and a good discriminative capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Our study evidenced that the sample of gamblers we analysed did not belong to the obsessive-compulsive disorders area, supporting the validity of the model proposed by DSM-5 for the classification of PG. These data confirm the importance of investing in treatments similar to those used for substance use disorders

Food Reputation and Food Preferences: Application of the Food Reputation Map (FRM) in Italy, USA, and China

Given the food challenges that society is facing, we draw upon recent developments in the study of how food reputation affects food preferences and food choices, providing here a starting standard point for measuring every aspect of food reputation in different cultural contexts across the world. Specifically, while previous attempts focused either on specific aspects of food or on measures of food features validated in one language only, the present research validates the Food Reputation Map (FRM) in Italian, English and Chinese over 2,250 participants worldwide. Here we successfully measure food reputation across 23 specific indicators, further grouped into six synthetic indicators of food reputation. Critically, results show that: (a) the specific measurement tool of food reputation can vary across cultural contexts, and that (b) people's reputation of food products or categories changes significantly across different cultural contexts. Therefore, in order to understand people's food preferences and consumption, it is important to take into account the repertoire of cultural differences that underlies the contexts of analysis: the three context-specific versions of the FRM presented here effectively deal with this issue and provide reliable context-specific insights on stakeholders' interests, perspectives, attitudes and behaviors related to food perceptions, assessment, and consumption, which can be effectively leveraged to foster food sustainability

Food reputation and food preferences:Application of the Food Reputation Map (FRM) in Italy, USA, and China

Given the food challenges that society is facing, we draw upon recent developments in the study of how food reputation affects food preferences and food choices, providing here a starting standard point for measuring every aspect of food reputation in different cultural contexts across the world. Specifically, while previous attempts focused either on specific aspects of food or on measures of food features validated in one language only, the present research validates the Food Reputation Map (FRM) in Italian, English and Chinese over 2,250 participants worldwide. Here we successfully measure food reputation across 23 specific indicators, further grouped into six synthetic indicators of food reputation. Critically, results show that: (a) the specific measurement tool of food reputation can vary across cultural contexts, and that (b) people's reputation of food products or categories changes significantly across different cultural contexts. Therefore, in order to understand people's food preferences and consumption, it is important to take into account the repertoire of cultural differences that underlies the contexts of analysis: the three context-specific versions of the FRM presented here effectively deal with this issue and provide reliable context-specific insights on stakeholders' interests, perspectives, attitudes and behaviors related to food perceptions, assessment, and consumption, which can be effectively leveraged to foster food sustainability

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for hepatitis C virus-related portal hypertension after liver transplantation.

hinolfi D, De Simone P, Catalano G, Petruccelli S, Coletti L, Carrai P, Marti J, Tincani G, Cicorelli A, Cioni R, Filipponi F. Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt for hepatitis C virus-related portal hypertension after liver transplantation. Clin Transplant 2012 DOI: 10.1111/j.1399-0012.2011.01595.x. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Abstract:  This is a single center retrospective review of 19 consecutive liver transplant (LT) patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related graft recurrent hepatitis who underwent transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) at a median interval of 21 months (range: 5-50) from LT. Indications were refractory ascites in 11 patients (57.9%), hydrothorax in six (31.6%), and both in two (10.5%). TIPS was successful in 94.7% of cases (18/19) with only one procedure-related mortality (5.3%) owing to sepsis on day 35. At a median follow-up of 23 months (range: one month-nine yr), TIPS allowed for symptoms resolution in 16 patients (84.2%), with ascites resolving in all cases and hydrothorax persisting in 2. Post-TIPS patient survival at six months, one yr, and three yr was 84.2%, 73.7%, and 56.8%, respectively. We compared these results with a control group of 29 patients with HCV recurrence but without unresponsive ascites or hydrothorax. Patients in the control group had better survival than patients undergoing TIPS placement. However, survival of TIPS patients with a MELD score lower than or equal to 12 was similar to that of the control group. We conclude that TIPS may be used to treat complications secondary to HCV