Dove va la libert\ue0 religiosa: percorsi comuni tra le due sponde del Mediterraneo

The paper aims to investigate the path of religious freedom on the two sides of the Mediterranean. Assuming the possibility of a synoptic history, the paper observes this synopsis from three different perspectives: historical, political and pluralistic. Taking the Declaration of Universal Human Rights as a common parameter for the two sides, the paper analyzes the contemporary process of politicization of the right of religious freedom both in Europe and in the MENA countries. Stressing the fact that the core of this right has to be individuated into the autonomy from the state of both (religious) individuals and communities, the paper advocates a defense of religious freedom as an autonomous and specific right, not completely merged with the generic protection of freedom of conscience and with the goals of the states. This kind of conflation, in fact, could subvert the fundamental distinction between religious and civil spheres, with harmful consequences for both the state and religious communities

Firm heterogeneity, market power and macroeconomic fragility

We investigate how firm heterogeneity and market power affect macroeconomic fragility, defined as the probability of long-lasting recessions. We propose a theory in which the positive interaction between firm entry, competition and factor supply can give rise to multiple steady-states. We show that when firm heterogeneity is large, even small temporary shocks can trigger firm exit and make the economy spiral in a competition-driven poverty trap. Calibrating our model to incorporate the well-documented trends in increasing firm heterogeneity we find that, relative to 2007, an economy with the 1985 level of firm heterogeneity is 5 to 9 times less likely to experience a very persistent recession. We use our framework to study the 2008-09 recession and show that the model can rationalize the persistent deviation of output and most macroeconomic aggregates from trend, including the behavior of net entry, markups and the labor share. Post-crisis cross-industry data corroborates our proposed mechanism. Firm subsidies can be powerful in preventing quasi-permanent recessions and can lead to a 21% increase in welfare

From Ecosystem Ecology to Landscape Ecology: a Progression Calling for a Well-founded Research and Appropriate Disillusions

In this paper, 1) a delineation of main theoretical, methodological and applicative issues of landscape ecology, 2) a comparison between landscape and ecosystem ecology, 3) a critical overview of actual limits of landscape ecology, are depicted. We conclude that: a) from a theoretical viewpoint, ecosystem and landscape ecology differ since they deal with ecological topics having very different spatial and temporal scales, b) from a practical standpoint, they deal with dissimilar purposes emerging both from unlike research scales and different approaches, as the interest of landscape ecology is mainly focused on the whole ecological mosaic rather than on single components, in this view assuming an "horizontal" ecological perspective, c) transdisciplinarity is still a work in progress in landscape ecology, d) several research purposes in landscape ecology are far from being reached, e) a bridge lacks between the "horizontal" perspective adopted from landscape ecology and the "vertical" approach distinctive of ecosystem ecology, therefore, they actually behave as detached disciplines. However, in our vision, landscape ecology contains the seeds for becoming a self-contained scientific discipline as well as the interface among the distinct sectors of environmental research and planning

Effects of pilot injection parameters on low temperature combustion diesel engines equipped with solenoid injectors featuring conventional and rate-shaped main injection

The potential of pilot injection has been assessed on a low-temperature combustion diesel engine for automotive applications, which was characterized by a reduced compression-ratio, high EGR rates and postponed main injection timings. Dwell time sweeps have been carried out for pilot injections with distinct energizing times under different representative steady-state working conditions of the medium load and speed area of the New European Driving Cycle. The results of in-cylinder analyses of the pressure, heat-release rate, temperature and emissions are presented. Combustion noise has been shown to decrease significantly when the pilot injected mass increases, while it is scarcely affected by the dwell time between the pilot and main injections. The HC, CO and fuel consumption trends, with respect to both the pilot injection dwell time and mass, are in line with those of conventional combustion systems, and in particular decreasing trends occur as the pilot injection energizing time is increased. Furthermore, a reduced sensitivity of NOx emissions to both dwell time and pilot injected mass has been found, compared to conventional combustion systems. Finally, it has been observed that soot emissions diminish as the energizing time is shortened, and their dependence on dwell time is influenced to a great extent by the presence of local zones with reduced air-to-fuel ratios within the cylinder. A combined analysis of the results of swirl sweeps and dwell time sweeps is here proposed as a methodology for the detection of any possible interference between pilot combustion burned gases and the main injected fuel. The effect of pilot injection on engine performance and emissions has also been assessed in the presence of rate-shaped main injections. These main injection profiles have been implemented with solenoid injectors by designing the injection fusion between a pre injection shot, which is added after the pilot injection, and the main injection. This innovative strategy shows benefits, with respect to combustion noise, although it still results in a reduced impact on NOx emissions. Furthermore, the brake specific fuel consumption and soot levels generally become worse than in the case of the simple pilot–main injection schedules. The injection fusion strategy has a significant impact on the soot versus dwell time dependence, which is influenced by the interference between the main injection and pilot combustion

Thermal effects on Common Rail injection system hydraulic performance

The effect of the fuel temperature on the hydraulic performance of a Common Rail diesel injector has been investigated with an integrated experimental-numerical approach. An experimental campaign pertaining to single and double injections has been performed for fuel tank temperatures ranging from 28C to 68C. In general, an augment in the injected mass has been observed for increasing values of the fuel tank temperature. Moreover, the interaction between the main and after injection changes with the temperature and the dwell time threshold for fusion-free injections increases with the fuel temperature. The temperature at the injector nozzle has been measured and compared with that obtained with a thermo-fluid dynamics simple model, showing that the real temperature and the estimated one correlate well. The influence of the fuel temperature on the internal injector dynamic has been explored by means of a validated 1D numerical model of the injector thermo-fluid dynamics. The main direct effect of the temperature variation concerns the needle lift, which reaches a larger peak value for a higher fuel temperature: this explains the general increment in the injected mass and the augmented value of the injection fusion threshold for the main-after injections. The obtained results could allow more accurate open-loop control strategies for the injected mass, which include thermal effects, to be implemente