Let Young People Join The Legislative Process. A Twitter Based Experiment On Internships

The aim of this research is to examine the possible effects of labour market institutional characteristics on young people's perceptions of their internship experiences as expressed on Twitter. By looking at these opinions (satisfaction versus dissatisfaction) in relation to certain features of internships as well as to the more general labour market regulatory framework, this project aims to give a voice to young people, enabling them (indirectly) to provide policy suggestions to law-makers. Furthermore, we propose a preview of a possible empirical model for data collection based on the manual coding of Tweets. By employing a Probit regression and Blinder-Oaxaca and Fairlie decompositions, we have tried to establish a link between the perceived evaluation of internships and the country where the internship is based, the latter being used as a proxy for the legal system. In all our tests we found that the country in which the internship is placed is the main factor in the positive or negative perception. Ultimately we shall propose the use of Twitter not only as a relevant research tool, but also as an instrument for bringing young people's needs to the attention of law-makers

I.S.Mu.L.T. Achilles Tendon Ruptures Guidelines

This work provides easily accessible guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of Achilles tendon ruptures. These guidelines could be considered as recommendations for good clinical practice developed through a process of systematic review of the literature and expert opinion, to improve the quality of care for the individual patient and rationalize the use of resources. This work is divided into two sessions: 1) questions about hot topics; 2) answers to the questions following Evidence Based Medicine principles. Despite the frequency of the pathology andthe high level of satisfaction achieved in treatment of Achilles tendon ruptures, a global consensus is lacking. In fact, there is not a uniform treatment and rehabilitation protocol used for Achilles tendon ruptures

ECMO for COVID-19 patients in Europe and Israel

Since March 15th, 2020, 177 centres from Europe and Israel have joined the study, routinely reporting on the ECMO support they provide to COVID-19 patients. The mean annual number of cases treated with ECMO in the participating centres before the pandemic (2019) was 55. The number of COVID-19 patients has increased rapidly each week reaching 1531 treated patients as of September 14th. The greatest number of cases has been reported from France (n = 385), UK (n = 193), Germany (n = 176), Spain (n = 166), and Italy (n = 136) .The mean age of treated patients was 52.6 years (range 16–80), 79% were male. The ECMO configuration used was VV in 91% of cases, VA in 5% and other in 4%. The mean PaO2 before ECMO implantation was 65 mmHg. The mean duration of ECMO support thus far has been 18 days and the mean ICU length of stay of these patients was 33 days. As of the 14th September, overall 841 patients have been weaned from ECMO support, 601 died during ECMO support, 71 died after withdrawal of ECMO, 79 are still receiving ECMO support and for 10 patients status n.a. . Our preliminary data suggest that patients placed on ECMO with severe refractory respiratory or cardiac failure secondary to COVID-19 have a reasonable (55%) chance of survival. Further extensive data analysis is expected to provide invaluable information on the demographics, severity of illness, indications and different ECMO management strategies in these patients

Contratto a tutele crescenti e nuova disciplina dei licenziamenti

SOMMARIO: 1. Il contratto a tutele crescenti: una nuova disciplina dei licenziamenti illegittimi. \u2013 2. Campo di applicazione.\u2013 2.1. Conversione e trasformazioni di contratti a termine e di apprendistato stipulati prima del 7 marzo 2015. \u2013 2.2. Pubblico impiego. \u2013 2.3. Applicazione anche ai vecchi assunti. \u2013 2.4. Organizzazioni di tendenza. \u2013 3. Il licenziamento discriminatorio e riconducibile ad altri casi di nullit\ue0 espressa. \u2013 4. \u2013 Il licenziamento disciplinare. \u2013 4.1. \u2013 Sproporzione della sanzione espulsiva. \u2013 4.2. \u2013 Insussistenza del fatto materiale. \u2013 4.3. \u2013 Inversione dell\u2019onere della prova. \u2013 5. Il licenziamento per giustificato motivo oggettivo. \u2013 6. Licenziamenti collettivi. \u2013 7. Vizi formali e procedurali

Analysis of Thermo-Hygrometric Conditions of an Innovative Underwater Greenhouse

Nemo’s Garden® Project aims at creating a green, alternative, and original agriculture system based on underwater greenhouses (biospheres) developed for areas where plant growth is difficult in the terrestrial environment due to climate conditions and new global warming issues. Ex-periments were designed and performed to measure the thermal and hygrometric behaviour in-side the biosphere; a simple theoretical model was developed to analyse the temperature and humidity of the air inside the biosphere in dynamic conditions and to interpret the experimental observations. The main findings of this research were: (i) the photosynthetically active radiation measured inside the underwater biosphere was 25–30% of that at sea level, (ii) the air temperature and relative humidity inside the biosphere showed cyclic daily variations that permitted a water evaporation/vapour condensation process, allowing the self-production of water for plant irri-gation, and (iii) the results given by the lumped-parameter theoretical model were in a good agreement with the experiments

Experimental plant for the cultivation of microalgae in photobioreactors for energy production

The continuous research of alternative and sustainable energy solutions with respect to fuels deriving from oil has led the current industrial and scientific system to analyze and develop approaches and technologies capable of enhancing materials of different nature for the production of biofuels. Algae are an alternative widely studied for this purpose, not only respect to the production of fossil fuels, but also respect to first-generation biofuels that use higher plants produced by normal cultivation methods. There are many plant solutions tested and disseminated internationally, operating in both outdoor and indoor environments. One of the most widespread criticisms is the inability to supply biodiesel quantities suitable for a production scale and with a positive economic and energy balance. This paper describes the results of a 4-years experimental research project oriented to the development of a low-scale demonstration plant of a complete advanced energy system based on the massive cultivation of microalgae and their treatment aimed at competitive production and sustainable bio-oil and biogas having requisites of suitability and compatibility with the relevant reference markets. The article intends to focus on a specific technological macro-component, completely studied and realized during the research project: the transparent, fully closed tubular photobioreactor (PBR) made of plastic material operating in continuous and in outdoor environments used for algal cultivation at low cost and high efficiency. The experimental plant was developed with the aim of providing a contribution to the main critical situations spread in this field, in particular: the need to reduce costs of the components of the plant and of the input resources necessary for the functioning of the system (energy, fertilizers, CO2, water, etc), as well as to maximize its modularity, reproducibility and exportability in other territorial contexts

The effect of plasma surface modification on the biodegradation rate and biocompatibility of a poly(butylene succinate)-based copolymer

In this contribution, a poly(butylene succinate)-based copolymer containing thioether linkages (P(BS85BTDG15)) has been synthesized and characterized from the molecular, thermal and mechanical point of view. The results have been compared to the parent homopolymer. Films obtained both by PBS and P(BS85BTDG15) have been subjected to surface modification by means of non-thermal plasma surface treatment and the effect on physic/mechanical properties has been considered. Hydrolytic degradation rate under physiological conditions and in vitro biocompatibility of treated and non-treated polymeric films have been also investigated.The introduction of thioether linkages and the plasma etching enhanced the polymer surface wettability, thus resulting in an increased hydrolytic degradation rate. On the other hand, bulk properties were not significantly affected.Biocompatibility assays highlighted the absence of potentially cytotoxic products into the culture medium and proved that the investigated polymeric films can support cell adhesion and proliferation. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved