840 research outputs found
Work-life balance policies as a multi-level, multi-stakeholder policy challenge : the case of Territorial Networks for Conciliation in Lombardy
Work-life balance policies represent an interesting case in the perspective of \u2018second welfare\u2019, which imply the participation of a number of non-public actors for the co-production of welfare. Compared to European figures, Italian women display high levels of inactivity, hiking after the birth of the first child, unbalanced care responsibilities with respect to men, inadequate childcare support and work arrangements. However, thanks to a number of stimuli from the EU, in the last decade work-life balance policies have gained some salience within the domestic political debate. In particular, at the sub-national level we have observed a proliferation of initiatives. Building on this framework, the research investigates the co-production of reconciliation policies in a multidimensional, multilevel, and multi-stakeholder perspective, by shedding light on innovative dynamics. In this respect, the Lombardy Region represents an intriguing case. In 2011, with the Regional White Paper on reconciling work and family, the territory was divided into 13 areas, and each one is now experimenting a network for the governance at the local level of work-life balance policies named Territorial Network for Conciliation, TNC - participated by public institutions, trade unions and employers representatives, as well as private companies, cooperatives and the Third sector - in charge of monitoring the needs of each territory, coordinating efforts, setting up new and innovative conciliation services
Long-term neuropsychological sequelae, emotional wellbeing and quality of life in patients with acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura
Neurological symptoms related to microthrombosis are the hallmark of acute manifestations of acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Despite the achievement of hematological remission, patients may report persisting neurological impairment that affects their quality of life. To assess the long-term neuropsychological consequences of acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, we recruited 35 acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura patients (77% females, median age at onset 41 years, interquartile range 35-48) regularly followed at our out-patient clinic of thrombotic microangiopathies in Milan (Italy) from December 2015 to October 2016. Patients underwent a psychological evaluation of memory and attentional functions, emotional wellbeing and health-related quality of life at least 3 months after their last acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura event (median 36 months, interquartile range 17-54). During the psychological consultation, 17 patients (49%) referred persisting subjective neurological impairment in the frame of a remission phase, with at least one symptom as disorientation, loss of concentration, dizziness, lack of balance, headache and diplopia. Neuropsychological assessment revealed lower scores than the Italian general population pertaining to direct, indirect and deferred memory. A higher degree of impairment of memory domains was found in patients with neurological involvement at the time of presentation of the first acute thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura episode. Anxiety and depression were detected in 7 (20%) and 15 (43%) patients, respectively. Health-related quality of life was lower than the Italian general population, with mental domains more impacted than physical domains (mean difference 58.43, 95% confidence interval [-71.49, -45.37]). Our study demonstrates compromised memory and attention functions, persisting anxiety/depression symptoms and a generally reduced quality of life in patients surviving from acute acquired thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. New clinical strategies should be considered to improve these symptoms
Angular power spectrum of the FastICA CMB component from BEAST data
We present the angular power spectrum of the CMB component extracted with
FastICA from the Background Emission Anisotropy Scanning Telescope (BEAST)
data. BEAST is a 2.2 meter off-axis telescope with a focal plane comprising 8
elements at Q (38-45 GHz) and Ka (26-36 GHz) bands. It operates from the UC
White Mountain Research Station at an altitude of 3800 meters. The BEAST CMB
angular power spectrum has been already calculated by O'Dwyer et.al. using only
the Q band data. With two input channels FastICA returns two possible
independent components. We found that one of these two has an unphysical
spectral behaviour while the other is a reasonable CMB component. After a
detailed calibration procedure based on Monte-Carlo (MC) simulations we
extracted the angular power spectrum for the identified CMB component and found
a very good agreement with the already published BEAST CMB angular power
spectrum and with the WMAP data.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA
Asymmetry of the PLANCK antenna beam shape and its manifestation in the CMB data
We present a new method to extract the beam shape incorporated in the
pixelized map of CMB experiments. This method is based on the interplay of the
amplitudes and phases of the signal and instrumental noise. By adding
controlled white noise onto the map, the phases are perturbed in such a way
that the beam shape manifests itself through the mean-squared value of the
difference between original and perturbed phases. This method is useful in
extracting preliminary antenna beam shape without time-consuming spherical
harmonic computations.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Astronomy & Astrophysic
Searches for axioelectric effect of solar axions with BGO-scintillator and BGO-bolometer detectors
A search for axioelectric absorption of 5.5 MeV solar axions produced in the
reaction has been
performed with a BGO detectors. A model-independent limit on the product of
axion-nucleon and axion-electron coupling constants has
been obtained: for 90\% C.L..Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Proceedings of the 10th Patras Workshop on
Axions, WIMPs and WISP 29 June - 4 July 2014, CERN, Geneva, Switzerlan
Fast and precise map-making for massively multi-detector CMB experiments
Future cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarisation experiments aim to
measure an unprecedentedly small signal - the primordial gravity wave component
of the polarisation field B-mode. To achieve this, they will analyse huge
datasets, involving years worth of time-ordered data (TOD) from massively
multi-detector focal planes. This creates the need for fast and precise methods
to complement the M-L approach in analysis pipelines. In this paper, we
investigate fast map-making methods as applied to long duration, massively
multi-detector, ground-based experiments, in the context of the search for
B-modes. We focus on two alternative map-making approaches: destriping and TOD
filtering, comparing their performance on simulated multi-detector polarisation
data. We have written an optimised, parallel destriping code, the DEStriping
CARTographer DESCART, that is generalised for massive focal planes, including
the potential effect of cross-correlated TOD 1/f noise. We also determine the
scaling of computing time for destriping as applied to a simulated full-season
data-set for a realistic experiment. We find that destriping can out-perform
filtering in estimating both the large-scale E and B-mode angular power
spectra. In particular, filtering can produce significant spurious B-mode power
via EB mixing. Whilst this can be removed, it contributes to the variance of
B-mode bandpower estimates at scales near the primordial B-mode peak. For the
experimental configuration we simulate, this has an effect on the possible
detection significance for primordial B-modes. Destriping is a viable
alternative fast method to the full M-L approach that does not cause the
problems associated with filtering, and is flexible enough to fit into both M-L
and Monte-Carlo pseudo-Cl pipelines.Comment: 16 pages, 14 figures. MNRAS accepted. Typos corrected and computing
time/memory requirement orders-of-magnitude numbers in section 4 replaced by
precise number
The 2.3 GHz continuum survey of the GEM project
We present a partial-sky survey of the radio continuum at 2.3 GHz within the
scope of the Galactic Emission Mapping (GEM) project, an observational program
conceived and developed to reveal the large-scale properties of Galactic
synchrotron radiation through a set of self-consistent surveys of the radio
continuum between 408 MHz and 10 GHz. The GEM experiment uses a portable and
double-shielded 5.5-m radiotelescope in altazimuthal configuration to map
60-degree-wide declination bands from different observational sites by
circularly scanning the sky at zenithal angles of 30 deg from a constantly
rotating platform. The observations were accomplished with a total power
receiver, whose front-end High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) amplifier
was matched directly to a cylindrical horn at the prime focus of the parabolic
reflector. The Moon was used to calibrate the antenna temperature scale and the
preparation of the map required direct subtraction and destriping algorithms to
remove ground contamination as the most significant source of systematic error.
We used 484 hours of total intensity observations from two locations in
Colombia and Brazil to yield 66% sky coverage from DEC = -51.73 deg to DEC =
+34.78 deg. The zero-level uncertainty of the combined survey is 103 mK with a
temperature scale error of 5% after direct correlation with the Rhodes/HartRAO
survey at 2326 MHz on a T-T plot. The sky brightness distribution into regions
of low and high emission in the GEM survey is consistent with the appearance of
a transition region as seen in the Haslam 408 MHz and WMAP K-band surveys.
Preliminary results also show that the temperature spectral index between 408
MHz and the 2.3 GHz band of the GEM survey has a weak spatial correlation with
these regions; but it steepens significantly from high to low emission regions
with respect to the WMAP K-band survey.Comment: 20 pages, 21 figures, 6 tables. Extensively revised and enlarged
version accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. Smaller figure
First array of enriched ZnSe bolometers to search for double beta decay
The R&D activity performed during the last years proved the potential of ZnSe
scintillating bolometers to the search for neutrino-less double beta decay,
motivating the realization of the first large-mass experiment based on this
technology: CUPID-0. The isotopic enrichment in Se, the ZnSe
crystals growth, as well as the light detectors production have been
accomplished, and the experiment is now in construction at Laboratori Nazionali
del Gran Sasso (Italy). In this paper we present the results obtained testing
the first three ZnSe crystals operated as scintillating bolometers, and
we prove that their performance in terms of energy resolution, background
rejection capability and intrinsic radio-purity complies with the requirements
of CUPID-0
A heuristic method for determining CO2 efficiency in transportation planning
Background CO2 emissions are generally considered the most important indicator to determine the global warming effects. Their evaluation in the case of a transportation infrastructure is generally not easy and could be achieved through a separate balance
- …