Safety and security management through an integrated multidisciplinary model and related integrated technological framework

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate a multidisciplinary model for safety and security management (IMMSSM) which can be implemented by means of a suitable Integrated Technological System Framework (ITSF) that can be based on Internet of Things (IoT)/Internet of Everything (IoE), showing also the significant role played by the integration of the elements that compose the model itself, thanks to a proper genetic algorithm studied for the specific context

Chinese entrepreneurship in context: specialization, localization and their impact on Italian industrial districts

Chinese migration flows represent a relatively new phenomenon in Italy. Its entrepreneurial nature is reflected in massive flows Chinese businessman employed both in manufacturing and commercial activities, with a dense concentration in correspondence of some industrial districts. The aim of the paper is to shed some light on current Chinese specialization of economic activities and localization across Italian regions and industrial districts, to test interpretative research hypothesis on Chinese entrepreneurship models and identify agglomeration forces underlying the emergence of so-called Chinese ethnic businesses. Some reflections on the manufacturing and commercial attitude of Chinese entrepreneurship will also be considered. The utilization of native-Chinese entrepreneurs as unit of observation represents an innovative methodological contribution based on ASIA-ISTAT archives. The exercise of explorative analysis based on data processing and spatial analysis will finally highlight business migration patterns, which represent new socio-economic challenges for Italian industrial districts

The role of financial variables in predicting economic activity

Previous research has shown that the US business cycle leads the European cycle by a few quarters, and can therefore help predicting euro area GDP. We investigate whether financial variables provide additional predictive power. We use a VAR model of the US and the euro area GDPs and extend it to take into account common global shocks and information provided by selected combinations of financial variables. In-sample analysis shows that shocks to financial variables influence real activity with a peak around 4 to 6 quarters after the shock. Out-of-sample Root-Mean- Squared Forecast Error (RMFE) shows that adding financial variables yields smaller errors in fore-casting US economic activity, especially at a five- quarter horizon, but the gain is overall tiny in economic terms. This link is even less prominent in the euro area, where financial indicators do not improve short and medium term GDP forecasts even when their timely availability, relative to a given GDP release, is exploited. The same conclusion is reached with a dataset of quarterly industrial production indices, although financial variables marginally improve fore- casts of monthly industrial production. We argue that the findings that financial variables have no predictive power for future activity in the euro area relate to the unconditional nature of the RMFE metric. When forecasting ability is assessed as if in real time (i.e. conditionally on the information available at the time when forecasts are made), we find that models using financial variables would have been preferred in many episodes, and in particular between 1999 and 2002. Results from the historical decomposition of a VAR model indeed suggest that in that period shocks were predominantly of financial nature. JEL Classification: F30, F42, F47conditional forecast, Financial Variables, international linkages, VAR

Early warning system for the prevention and control of unauthorized accesses to air navigation services infrastructures

Early warning systems are fundamental instruments for the management of critical situations since they are able to signal in advance any anomaly with respect to ordinary situations. The purpose of this paper is to present an early warning system, based on artificial neural networks, for the prevention and control of unauthorized accesses to the air navigation services infrastructure in Italy

Guidelines for reporting and analysing laboratory test results for biomass cooking stoves

One of the key challenges in the evaluation of Improved Cooking Stoves (ICSs) performance is the correct interpretation of test results. Indeed, a large amount of the reports or studies in the literature provide results that do not allow drawing any statistically significant conclusion, thus leading to possible misinterpretations. These Guidelines are conceived as a support to all the actors involved in sector of biomass stoves performance evaluation, from the technicians and researchers engaged in laboratory testing, to those who need to better understand and interpret test results in order to select a promising stove model for field trials. The concepts and the methodology here proposed draw upon the most recent studies in the scientific literature on this topi

Chinese entrepreneurship in context: specialization, localization and their impact on Italian industrial districts

Chinese migration flows represent a relatively new phenomenon in Italy. Its entrepreneurial nature is reflected in massive flows Chinese businessman employed both in manufacturing and commercial activities, with a dense concentration in correspondence of some industrial districts. The aim of the paper is to shed some light on current Chinese specialization of economic activities and localization across Italian regions and industrial districts, to test interpretative research hypothesis on Chinese entrepreneurship models and identify agglomeration forces underlying the emergence of so-called Chinese ethnic businesses. Some reflections on the manufacturing and commercial attitude of Chinese entrepreneurship will also be considered. The utilization of native-Chinese entrepreneurs as unit of observation represents an innovative methodological contribution based on ASIA-ISTAT archives. The exercise of explorative analysis based on data processing and spatial analysis will finally highlight business migration patterns, which represent new socio-economic challenges for Italian industrial district

The role of financial variables in predicting economic activity

Previous research has shown that the US business cycle leads the European cycle by a few quarters, and can therefore help predicting euro area GDP. We investigate whether financial variables provide additional predictive power. We use a VAR model of the US and the euro area GDPs and extend it to take into account common global shocks and information provided by selected combinations of financial variables. In-sample analysis shows that shocks to financial variables influence real activity with a peak around 4 to 6 quarters after the shock. Out-of-sample Root-Mean- Squared Forecast Error (RMFE) shows that adding financial variables yields smaller errors in fore-casting US economic activity, especially at a five- quarter horizon, but the gain is overall tiny in economic terms. This link is even less prominent in the euro area, where financial indicators do not improve short and medium term GDP forecasts even when their timely availability, relative to a given GDP release, is exploited. The same conclusion is reached with a dataset of quarterly industrial production indices, although financial variables marginally improve fore- casts of monthly industrial production. We argue that the findings that financial variables have no predictive power for future activity in the euro area relate to the unconditional nature of the RMFE metric. When forecasting ability is assessed as if in real time (i.e. conditionally on the information available at the time when forecasts are made), we find that models using financial variables would have been preferred in many episodes, and in particular between 1999 and 2002. Results from the historical decomposition of a VAR model indeed suggest that in that period shocks were predominantly of financial nature

A Morse Theory for Massive Particles and Photons in General Relativity

In this paper we develop a Morse Theory for timelike geodesics parameterized by a constant multiple of proper time. The results are obtained using an extension to the timelike case of the relativistic Fermat Principle, and techniques from Global Analysis on infinite dimensional manifolds. In the second part of the paper we discuss a limit process that allows to obtain also a Morse theory for light rays