Inertial Control of the VIRGO Superattenuator

The VIRGO superattenuator (SA) is effective in depressing the seismic noise below the thermal noise level above 4 Hz. On the other hand, the residual mirror motion associated to the SA normal modes can saturate the dynamics of the interferometer locking system. This motion is reduced implementing a wideband (DC-5 Hz) multidimensional control (the so called inertial damping) which makes use of both accelerometers and position sensors and of a DSP system. Feedback forces are exerted by coil-magnet actuators on the top of the inverted pendulum. The inertial damping is successful in reducing the mirror motion within the requirements. The results are presented.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, Talk at the 3rd Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves Experiment, Caltech, Pasadena, 12-16 July 199

Effects of Local Specialization of Investment Subsides in Italy

In Italy we currently have a lot of national and regional instruments for financial aids to enterprises. Most of them are not specialized, as syntethetized in the following points: 1. they are refferred to the whole Italian territory; 2. they have generic objects (increase of GNP, reduction of growth differences among regions, employment); 3. they are applied to all the sectors of production; 4. they have common methods of application (automatic, discretional,negotiated). This means that we establish general purposes without further specialization even if we fall into particular purposes.In addition to this types of subsides, there are anymore that are specialized both at territorial and at sectorial level. Among these, the most important are distributed by the Territorial Pacts that are one of the instruments of concerted planning. In this paper we firstly define the specialization of some forms of subsidies; then we analize the performance of two samples of enterprises, that are located in the Apulia Region (NUTS III), the first of which has been benefiting from the state support provided by law n.488/92 (Financial support of the productive activities in depressed zones), and the second one that has been benefiting from the support provided by Territorial Pacts. The enterprises performance have been assessed through quantitative index measured by three main relations: 1. Sales / Assets, that is an indicator measuring the firms efficiency. So it indicates if the total value of sales they?ve carried out, can account for the effectuated investments. 2. Profit / Sales, that estimate the enterprise ability to obtain profits, aging in the market, and let us having indications about prospects of success. 3. Profit / Assets, that assess, in a better way, the capacity in terms of global income of the enterprise. Comparing the average of the three indicators considered, related to supported enterprises, with the same indexes of Mediobanca sample about not-supported enterprises, we obtain interesting results. They have proved that: A. the enterprises having supports are, generally, less efficient than those having no support; B. the firms subsided by Territorial Pacts are more efficient than the other ones subsided by law n.488/92. From the investigation it emerges that the subsides territorially oriented are more efficient than the general support, referred to the same area. So, if we privilege efficiency results, putting the effectiveness ones in a secondary position, we probably should prefer an automatic but specialized aid system, at least from the territorial, dimensional and productive point of view according to preference scales. But, if we want to obtain effectiveness standards too, it is necessary to specialize the interventions and determine specific goals and result indicators.

Could the aeronautics-aerospace industry renovate the "poles of growth" model as a path of development?

Could the aeronautics-aerospace industry renovate the "poles of growth" model as a path of local development? The paper aims to introduce a theoretical approach in order to answer the question if nowaday new models of local development at regional level exist and if it is possible to recognize the coexistence of different model in the same time depending by particular characteristics and socio-economic background of an area. The main idea of the paper turns around the possibility to review the model of poles of growth described by Perroux at first time. This idea is supported by the case-study of the aeronautics-aerospace industry that presents a meaningful polarization at the regional level in many European regions and can represent an important path for local development. The sector presents a pyramidal structure having few big companies at top operating as global players as well as a lot of companies at the basis. These form meaningful linkages with local SMES in terms of technical collaboration and knowledge transfer. In this way aeronautics-aerospace industry involves institutional organizations at different levels, researchers, different sized firms and a lot of selected stakeholders. Then aeronautics-aerospace activities represent the starting of a significantly trial to regional development in terms of economic stimulus and fertilization towards innovation diffusion as well. That is way the sector can be defined as a knowledge-science-based one in according to the traditional Pavitt's taxonomy. This aspect is particularly important in the present economic phase because economic theories concord about the idea that knowledge diffusion and news innovation technologies represent the winning tools in the framework of global competition. The model of poles of growth is reviewed in this new perspective with a particular attention to the innovation input-output linkages among companies as well as these and research infrastructure formed by as universities and research institutions, human capital and firms incubators that represent the competitive endogenous factors of an area

Effects of Local Specialization of Investment Subsides in Italy

In Italy we currently have a lot of national and regional instruments for financial aids to enterprises. Most of them are not specialized, as syntethetized in the following points: 1. they are refferred to the whole Italian territory; 2. they have generic objects (increase of GNP, reduction of growth differences among regions, employment); 3. they are applied to all the sectors of production; 4. they have common methods of application (automatic, discretional,negotiated). This means that we establish general purposes without further specialization even if we fall into particular purposes.In addition to this types of subsides, there are anymore that are specialized both at territorial and at sectorial level. Among these, the most important are distributed by the Territorial Pacts that are one of the instruments of concerted planning. In this paper we firstly define the specialization of some forms of subsidies; then we analize the performance of two samples of enterprises, that are located in the Apulia Region (NUTS III), the first of which has been benefiting from the state support provided by law n.488/92 (Financial support of the productive activities in depressed zones), and the second one that has been benefiting from the support provided by Territorial Pacts. The enterprises performance have been assessed through quantitative index measured by three main relations: 1. Sales / Assets, that is an indicator measuring the firms efficiency. So it indicates if the total value of sales they?ve carried out, can account for the effectuated investments. 2. Profit / Sales, that estimate the enterprise ability to obtain profits, aging in the market, and let us having indications about prospects of success. 3. Profit / Assets, that assess, in a better way, the capacity in terms of global income of the enterprise. Comparing the average of the three indicators considered, related to supported enterprises, with the same indexes of Mediobanca sample about not-supported enterprises, we obtain interesting results. They have proved that: A. the enterprises having supports are, generally, less efficient than those having no support; B. the firms subsided by Territorial Pacts are more efficient than the other ones subsided by law n.488/92. From the investigation it emerges that the subsides territorially oriented are more efficient than the general support, referred to the same area. So, if we privilege efficiency results, putting the effectiveness ones in a secondary position, we probably should prefer an automatic but specialized aid system, at least from the territorial, dimensional and productive point of view according to preference scales. But, if we want to obtain effectiveness standards too, it is necessary to specialize the interventions and determine specific goals and result indicators

A LAGRANGIAN PARTICLE CFD POST-PROCESSOR DEDICATED TO PARTICLE ADHESION/DEPOSITION

In the past few years the use of biomass in power plants has grown dramatically. As a result of this action fouling and slagging in co-firing biomass facilities have turned out to play a critical role in the efficiency of such facilities. Efficient and effective methods are therefore needed to control fouling to an acceptable level and to prevent economic losses due to reduced furnace thermal efficiency, increased maintenance or even unscheduled outages. Numerical prediction of the impact of deposit properties has proved itself to be a successful strategy to both evaluate changes in the facility performance and to investigate possible solutions to minimize fouling as well. TU Delft and ECN started a project to monitor and control fouling in furnaces co-firing biomass with coal by means of numerical simulations and experiments. Numerical investigations are based on the development of a novel in-house code to track solid particles post-processing gas phase CFD data. These have been calculated using commercial codes such as FLUENT, CINAR and CFX. The Lagrangian Particle Post- Processor code ( P3 ) strategy and numerical results are presented here. Numerical simulation compare fairly well to the available experimental data for glass particles

Higher education and research programme on sustainable development in the Mediterranean region (PESME)

Peer Reviewe

University-Industry Collaboration in the European Regional Context: the Cases of Galicia and Apulia Region

Universities are one of the key actors within national and regional innovation systems. The nature of university-industry collaboration has changed during the last decades and it varies across countries and regions. Different factors determine the interaction among both organizations, from those related to the industrial structure of the territory to others related to institutional and legal frameworks. In this paper we aim at adding to the understanding of this process based on the comparison between two European regions, Apulia in Italy and Galicia in Spain. Our results show that a progressive transition from a separated to a more integrated approach has occurred at the relational framework affecting universities and industry in both regions. Public policies, particularly from the regional level, have been relevant for promoting university-industry collaboration in Galicia and Apulia. Nevertheless, there still remain cultural and institutional barriers, both from the academy and business sphere, which impede a closer and more fruitful interaction. Besides, the poor innovative culture of traditional industries which dominate in both regions, might affect university-industry interaction. However, an adjustment of the university offer in terms of research is also needed as we observe that collaboration is too much biased by the university scientific and departmental specialization and too little by local and regional industrial specialization.Uniwersytety pełnią rolę jednego z kluczowych podmiotów w ramach narodowych i regionalnych systemów innowacji. Charakter współpracy między uniwersytetami i przedsiębiorstwami zmienił się ciągu ostatnich kilkudziesięciu lat, przy czy wykazuje on znaczną różnorodność w poszczególnych krajach i regionach. Interakcję między tymi podmiotami determinuje szereg czynników, począwszy od branżowej struktury terytorium, aż po uwarunkowania instytucjonalne i prawne. Celem artykułu jest poszerzenie rozumienia tego procesu, na podstawie porównania dwóch europejskich regionów (nuts-2) - włoskiej Apulii i hiszpańskiej Galicji. Rezultaty badań wskazują, że w obu regionach nastąpił rozwój od rozproszonego do zintegrowanego podejścia w relacjach między nauką i gospodarką. Istotną rolę w rozwoju współpracy między środowiskiem naukowym i przedsiębiorstwami w Galicji i Apulii odegrała polityka gospodarcza, szczególnie na poziomie regionalnym. Jednocześnie jednak ciągle występują kulturowe i instytucjonalne bariery, zarówno po stronie środowiska akademickiego, jak i biznesowego, które utrudniają właściwe ukierunkowanie i większą efektywność współpracy. Ograniczeniem jest z jednej strony niski poziom kultury innowacyjnej obserwowany w tradycyjnych branżach, które dominują w obu regionach. z drugiej zaś strony, istnieje także potrzeba lepszego dostosowania badań prowadzonych przez uniwersytety, gdyż są one bardziej uzależnione od naukowej i funkcjonalnej specjalizacji uczelni niż lokalnej i regionalnej specjalizacji przemysłu

A Legitimidade na Regulamentação do Direito à Vida: Tensões Entre o Legislativo e o Judiciário na Concretização da Constituição

The trial of ADPF 54 by the Supreme Court had the effect of regulating the beginning of the constitutional protection of life, silenced in the Federal Constitution of 1988 and in the ordinary legislation. However, the presentation of a legislative proposal for criminalizing the termination of pregnancy, due to the diagnosis of fetal anencephaly, provokes rising tensions about the limits of the judicial and legislative powers in the implementation of fundamental rights. In this study, these tensions will be analyzed in the light of comparative law, in order to understand how the regulation of the right to life is disciplined in other democratic States.O julgamento da ADPF 54 pelo Supremo Tribunal Federal teve como efeito a regulamentação do início da proteção constitucional à vida, silenciada na Constituição Federal de 1988 e na legislação ordinária. Todavia, a tramitação perante o Legislativo de Projeto de Lei prevendo a criminalização da interrupção da gravidez por diagnóstico de anencefalia fetal reacende as tensões acerca dos limites da atuação dos poderes Judiciário e Legislativo na concretização dos direitos fundamentais, as quais serão analisadas no presente trabalho à luz do direito comparado, a fim de compreender como a regulamentação do direito à vida se estabeleceu em outros Estados Democráticos