Green Cars Adoption and the Supply of Alternative Fuels

Easy availability of stations serving alternative fuels is an obvious concern for customers considering to buy a “green” car. Yet, the supply of fuel is seldom considered when analyzing the problem of fostering the adoption of environmentally friendly vehicles. I develop and estimate a joint model of demand for green cars and supply of alternative fuels. Customers care about the density of stations offering the fuel their car runs on in their market; stations only supply fuels whose stock of circulating cars is large enough to cover the fixed cost of building an alternative fuel pump. I use this framework to compare the effectiveness of a subsidy to consumers who buy cars running on alternative fuels to that of a subsidy to gas stations installing alternative fuel pumps. Counterfactual simulations suggest that subsidizing fuel retailers to offer alternative fuels is an effective policy to indirectly increase low emission car sales

Green Car Adoption and the Supply of Alternative Fuels

Easy access to stations serving alternative fuels is an obvious concern for customers considering to buy a "green" car. Yet, the supply of fuel is seldom considered analyzing how to promote the adoption of environmentally friendly vehicles. I develop and estimate a joint model of demand for cars and supply of alternative fuels. I use this framework to compare the effectiveness of a subsidy to consumers who buy cars running on alternative fuels to that of a subsidy to gas stations installing alternative fuel pumps. Counterfactual simulations suggest that subsidizing fuel retailers to offer alternative fuels is a more effective policy that indirectly increases low emission car sales

Green Cars Adoption and the Supply of Alternative Fuels

Easy availability of stations serving alternative fuels is an obvious concern for customers considering to buy a “green” car. Yet, the supply of fuel is seldom considered when analyzing the problem of fostering the adoption of environmentally friendly vehicles. I develop and estimate a joint model of demand for green cars and supply of alternative fuels. Customers care about the density of stations offering the fuel their car runs on in their market; stations only supply fuels whose stock of circulating cars is large enough to cover the fixed cost of building an alternative fuel pump. I use this framework to compare the effectiveness of a subsidy to consumers who buy cars running on alternative fuels to that of a subsidy to gas stations installing alternative fuel pumps. Counterfactual simulations suggest that subsidizing fuel retailers to offer alternative fuels is an effective policy to indirectly increase low emission car sales

Exploratory analysis of the psychological functioning of children and adolescents with PKU and their parents' symptoms of anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty

openLa fenilchetonuria (PKU) è una rara condizione medica congenita causata da un errore nel processo metabolico dell'aminoacido fenilalanina (Phe) dovuto a mutazioni genetiche nell'enzima fenilalanina idrossilasi (PAH), responsabile dell’idrolisi delle molecole di Phe in tirosina (Tyr). Questo processo richiede solitamente l'azione congiunta di PAH, tetra idro biopterina (BH4) e ferro per scomporre completamente gli aminoacidi Phe. L'inibizione completa o parziale di questa attività enzimatica porta i livelli di Phe ad accumularsi nel sistema circolatori, da cui consegue una concentrazione tossica nel cervello che, se non trattata, può culminare in un progressivo deterioramento intellettuale e in deficit motori e comportamentali. Gli studi hanno identificato tre diverse forme di questa malattia: la più grave è la PKU classica, seguita dalla forma BH4 responsiva e, infine, l'iperfenilalaninemia (HPA) è la forma più lieve. Finora i ricercatori non sono riusciti a trovare una cura risolutiva; tuttavia, alcuni trattamenti possono regolare e abbassare i livelli di Phe nei pazienti PKU per prevenire gli squilibri metabolici, quali per esempio una dieta restrittiva nell’assunzione di Phe, la somministrazione di BH4 o di pegvaliasi (PEG-PAL) e l'integrazione di grandi aminoacidi neutri (LNAA). Questa ricerca si propone di indagare alcuni costrutti specifici del funzionamento psicologico dei genitori con figli affetti da PKU, oltre a valutare il benessere psicologico di bambini e adolescenti affetti da questa malattia e mira, inoltre, ad esaminare l’eventuale esistenza di correlazioni tra il benessere psicologico genitoriale e il livello di funzionamento del figlio. Lo studio è stato condotto somministrando un'indagine specifica a 27 madri e 19 padri, per verificare i loro livelli di ansia generale (GAD-7), stress genitoriale (PSI) e intolleranza all'incertezza (IUS-R); inoltre, il funzionamento psicologico e relazionale dei bambini è stato valutato attraverso un questionario self-report (SDQ) e la scala di intolleranza all'incertezza. Considerando il funzionamento del bambino sono stati ipotizzati maggiori livelli di intolleranza all’incertezza e un peggior adattamento psicologico generale per i soggetti affetti dalla forma più grave della malattia, rispetto a coloro che presentavano forme moderate o lievi. È stata prevista una possibile correlazione tra la forma di malattia del bambino e l'impatto psicologico sulla sua vita e su quella dei genitori, nonché un'associazione tra il funzionamento del bambino e i costrutti psicologici del genitore. I risultati si sono rivelati solo parzialmente coerenti con le ipotesi: i bambini affetti da PKU classica hanno riportato maggiori livelli di intolleranza all’incertezza solo nella sottoscala inibitoria, mentre l’adattamento piscologico generale si è dimostrato omogeneo tra le diverse forme. I punteggi di ansia e intolleranza all’incertezza sia delle madri che dei padri di bambini con PKU classica, invece, non si sono rivelati significativamente differenti rispetto a quelli riportati dai genitori di soggetti con forme più lievi. Dai risultati emerge una correlazione positiva maggiore tra l’intolleranza all’incertezza materna e gli aspetti emozionali, comportamentali e relazionali del figlio, mentre nel campione dei padri si assiste ad un’interdipendenza con queste dimensioni solo relativa alla sottoscala inibitoria del costrutto dell’intolleranza all’incertezza. La percezione di sintomatologia d’ansia dei padri, invece, risulta dipendente dagli aspetti emozionali del bambino, mentre quella materna si dimostra maggiormente legata alla dimensione relazionale del figli

La sostenibilità nell'industria conciaria

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The stereotyper and the chameleon: the effects of stereotype use on perceivers' mimicry

Interpersonal dynamics may play a crucial role in the perpetuation of stereotypes. In an experimental study, participants interacted with a confederate who provided either stereotype-consistent or stereotype-inconsistent descriptions about the elderly. Based on the assumption that mimicry represents a social glue that fosters interpersonal liking and affiliation, we assessed the extent to which participants mimicked the nonverbal behaviors of the confederate as a function of the stereotypicality of the descriptions. Results showed that nonconscious mimicry was more likely when the speaker relied on stereotypes rather than on stereotype-inconsistent information. In Study 2 the effect was replicated in relation to national stereotypes. This finding indicates that stereotypers are faced with subtle nonverbal cues from the audience that can retroactively reinforce their behaviors and thus make stereotype dismissal so difficult to be achieved

An urban biorefinery for food waste and biological sludge conversion into polyhydroxyalkanoates and biogas

This study focuses on the application of the concept of circular economy, with the creation of added-value marketable products and energy from organic waste while minimizing environmental impacts. Within this purpose, an urban biorefinery technology chain has been developed at pilot scale in the territorial context of the Treviso municipality (northeast Italy) for the production of biopolymers (polyhydroxyalkanoates, PHAs) and biogas from waste of urban origin. The piloting system (100\u2013380 L) comprised the following units: a) acidogenic fermentation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) and biological sludge; b) two solid/liquid separation steps consisting of a coaxial centrifuge and a tubular membrane (0.2 \u3bcm porosity); c) a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) for aerobic PHA-storing biomass production; d) aerobic fed-batch PHA accumulation reactor and e) Anaerobic co-digestion (ACoD). The thermal pre-treatment (72 \ub0C, 48 h) of the feedstock enhanced the solubilization of the organic matter, which was converted into volatile fatty acids (VFAs) in batch mode under mesophilic fermentation conditions (37 \ub0C). The VFA content increased up to 30 \ub1 3 g COD/L (overall yield 0.65 \ub1 0.04 g CODVFA/g VS(0)), with high CODVFA/CODSOL (0.86 \ub1 0.05). The high CODVFA/CODSOL ratio enhanced the PHA-storing biomass selection in the SBR by limiting the growth of the non-storing microbial population. Under fully aerobic feast-famine regime, the selection reactor was continuously operated for 6 months at an average organic loading rate (OLR) of 4.4 \ub1 0.6 g COD/L d and hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 day (equal to SRT). The ACoD process (HRT 15 days, OLR 3.0\u20133.5 kg VS/m3 d) allowed to recover the residual solid-rich overflows generated by the two solid/liquid separation units with the production of biogas (SGP 0.44\u20130.51 m3/kg VS) and digestate. An overall yield of 7.6% wt PHA/VS(0) has been estimated from the mass balance. In addition, a preliminary insight into potential social acceptance and barriers regarding organic waste-derived products was obtained

Real world data in the era of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs): Increasing evidence and future applications in lung cancer.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) targeting programmed death 1 (PD-1) and PD-ligand 1 (PD-L1) quickly subverted the standard of treatment in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), where they were first introduced in all comers previously treated advanced/metastatic NSCLC patients and subsequently in the first line of PD-L1 selected cases of metastatic and locally advanced disease. Treatment algorithm is an evolving landscape, where the introduction of front-line ICIs, with or without chemotherapy, unavoidably influences the following treatment lines. In this context, medical oncologists are currently facing many unclear issues, which have been not clarified so far by available data. Effectiveness and safety in special populations underrepresented in clinical trials - such as elderly, poor PS, hepatitis or human immunodeficiency virus-affected patients - are only a part of the unexplored side of ICIs in the real world. Indeed, pivotal randomized clinical trials (RCTs) often lack of external validity because eligibility criteria exclude some patient subgroups commonly treated in real-world clinical practice. Similarly, cost-effectiveness and sustainability of these innovative agents are important issues to be considered in the real-world. Though affected by several limitations, real-world evidence (RWE) studies allow to collect data regarding overall treated patients in clinical practice according to local authority regulations, overcoming the intrinsic limits of RCTs. The present review focuses on RWE about ICIs in lung cancer treatment, with particular reference to special patient populations, and discusses potential application of real-world data in a potential innovative drug development model

Exploiting Tannery Sludge as Renewable Resource for Biogas and Short-chain Fatty (SCFAs) Acids Production

The tannery industry is a very lucrative and widespread sector in Italy, and it is yet one of the most polluting, mainly due to the tannery sludge’s disposal in landfills, as it is considered a special residue by Italian legislation. An evaluation of the performance of the anaerobic fermentation process to obtain biogas and short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) has been performed in this paper in different conditions concerning temperature, total solids content, and oxidizing and/or thermal pretreatments. The batch test trials revealed that the hydrogen peroxide pretreatment proved to be effective in increasing the biogas production, already at low doses but reaching the highest amount of 204 mL with the dose of 0.6 g H2O2/gTS. Regarding the SCFAs production, the combined microwave and hydrogen peroxide (MW-H2O2) pretreatment followed by thermophilic conditions gave the best results, with maximal SCFA concentration above 24 g CODSCFA/L. In the tests conducted without pretreatment, the mesophilic temperature seem preferable since the acidification performances were comparable to or even better than their thermophilic counterparts while being less energy intensive. The obtained results proved that tannery sludge can be employed in different ways and provide a viable alternative to landfilling, to handle this waste in a greener way, in a circular economy approach

Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (aNSCLC): Platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) predicts the risk of development and relapse

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