The turning points of EU cohesion policy, Working Paper Report to Barca Report

In more recent discussions on the future of Cohesion policy, however, both critics and supporters have tended to agree on the need for a “modernisation” of the policy, in recognition of existing weakness in the current approach and of the emerging challenges faced by the European economy, society and broader integration process. In this context of reform, this paper will take a step back in time to examine the origins and evolution of Cohesion policy, with a view to shedding some light on its core dynamics and revealing some of the lessons of history. In doing so, the main objectives of this paper are to identify the main historical turning points in Cohesion policy, the trends and nature of changes witnessed, and the key underlying factors facilitating or obstructing policy reform over time

The Distribution of Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles (Lepidochelys kempi) Along the Texas Coast: An Atlas

Eight hundred sixty-five records of Kemp's ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys kempi) reported from Texas between the late 1940's to April 1990 were compiled from six data bases and the literature, then plotted on a series of Texas maps. Four categories of Kemp's ridleys are identified throughout the atlas: head-started (turtles that are raised in captivity their first year of life), wild, historical (pre-1980), and nesters. Geographic, seasonal, and size distributions of the turtle categories are plotted by regions. Most Kemp's ridleys were reported from the northeast and central Texas coast. They were reported from both inshore (landward of barrier islands) and offshore (seaward of barrier islands). Scattered nestings occurred in the central to southern regions. Kemp's ridleys were found more often during the spring and summer. A total of 546 turtle records contained measurements; most were 20-59.9 cm curved carapace length and considered sub-adults. Comparison of distributions of head-started and wild Kemp's ridleys suggests head-started Kemp's ridleys inhabit the same areas as wild Kemp's ridleys. (PDF file contains 56 pages.

Summary of Gateway Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) Studies

NASA's Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) is based on a joint industry/NASA demonstration of an advanced solar electric propulsion powered spacecraft to meet commercial and NASA objectives. The PPE can establish the initial presence in cislunar space for the Gateway through initial operations and the subsequent deployment of additional partner-provided elements for the cislunar platform. Five commercial vendors were selected to conduct PPE studies which addressed key drivers for PPE development and support for the Gateway concept formulation. The study vendors focused on their performance trades and assessing their strategic capabilities, leveraging their existing and planned capabilities for PPE development. The industry studies examined differences between prior Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) mission concepts, expected industry capabilities, and potential needs supporting NASA's Gateway concept. These studies provided data on commercial capabilities relevant to NASA's exploration needs and reduced risk for a new, powerful, and efficient SEP-based PPE spacecraft

Investigation of a liquid-fed water resistojet plume

Measurements of mass flux and flow angle were taken throughout the forward flow region of the exhaust of a liquid-fed water resistojet using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). The resistojet operated at a mass flow rate of 0.1 g/s with a power input of 330 Watts. Measured values were compared to theoretical predictions obtained by employing a source flow approximation. Excellent agreement between predicted and measured mass flux values was attained; however, this agreement was highly dependent on knowledge of nozzle flow conditions. Measurements of the temperature at which the exhaust condensed on the QCM were obtained as a function of incident mass flux

Miglioramento sismico ed energetico di edificio in muratura mediante pannelli in legno

Nella presente tesi è descritto il calcolo e il dimensionamento del miglioramento sismico ed energetico di un edificio in muratura mediante l'utilizzo di pannelli in legno a fibre incrociate. L'edificio è situato a Pisa, nel quartiere di Sant'Ermete ed è adibito a residenza popolare. Nella prima fase del lavoro sono state individuate le criticità della struttura esistente mediante analisi statiche e dinamiche. Inoltre sono stati messi in luce gli elementi maggiormente sollecitati dall'azione sismica. La seconda parte del lavoro vede l'introduzione dell'indice di rischio per la determinazione dell'intervento necessario alla struttura in esame. Sulla base di tale valore sono stati dimensionati i pannelli in legno strutturale ed è stato valutato il sistema di connessione tra questi e la muratura. La progettazione ha la propria finalità nella realizzazione di un comportamento collaborativo dei due materiali nei confronti delle azioni orizzontali, come quelle sismiche, intervenendo esclusivamente sulle murature esterne. Nella terza sezione sono state valutate le caratteristiche energetiche delle pareti ed in particolare sono stati progettati ulteriori strati isolanti, posizionabili a secco e in aggiunta al legno strutturale, in grado di far convergere il valore della trasmittanza con quanto indicato dalle normative vigenti. È stato inoltre valutato il comportamento termico in regime dinamico delle pareti esterne, per le quali è stata anche esclusa la presenza di fenomeni di condensa interstiziale e superficiale. Nella sezione conclusiva del testo l'intervento è stato analizzato dal punto di vista economico ed è stata valutata la sua convenienza rispetto ad altre tecniche di pratica comune per questo tipo di opere

Legitimising (Note 1) Alternative Voices in Sustainable Development (SD) Discourse: The Case of Scientist Rebellion (SR)

This paper investigates the language of legitimation considering a number of open letters published by the pressure group Scientist Rebellion (SR) to address sustainability issues. The questions this paper seeks to address include the following: Which legitimation strategies did the authors of the open letters examined make use of to buttress their arguments? Did these resources serve a legitimatory function, a delegitimising function against adversaries, or both? Are the open letters under investigation characterized by legitimising mechanisms that are specific to this genre? Using van Leeuwen‟s theoretical framework, a number of legitimation strategies are identified, which were put in place by SR representatives to raise awareness of questions concerning sustainable development (SD) and to seek public consent in relation to their proposals

Evaluating Occupational Outcomes and Interventions in Schools

This dissertation consists of three distinct yet inter-related research papers in labor economics, each with relevance for public policy. The first chapter examines the role of wage differentials for caring work in explaining the gender wage gap. We find that both women and men face caring penalties that are small, about 2% for one standard deviation difference in caring. While women disproportionately work in caring jobs, it is unlikely that policies governing wages in the care sector could achieve pay equity between men and women. The second chapter evaluates the impact of state legislation on bullying in schools. I employ a difference-in-differences approach exploiting variation across states in the timing and type of law adopted using nationally representative surveys at the student and school levels. While I find no impact of the laws on bullying in high schools, bullying occurs most often in middle school. And impacts might vary by school type and legislation type. I also discuss current challenges to evaluating bullying legislation and provide recommendations for facilitating a conclusive assessment of whether state bullying laws work. The third chapter uses a field experiment to evaluate an intervention aimed at increasing participation in an academic assistance program. Supplemental Instruction (SI) is a widely used, but poorly evaluated, peer-tutoring program with low participation rates. We randomize encouragements to attend SI across a large student population. The resulting boost in participation allows us to estimate the per-session average causal impact of SI on grades for a subpopulation under certain assumptions

The Effect of Leadership Coaching on the Self-Efficacy of New Assistant Principals

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the effect of leadership coaching on new assistant principals’ perceptions of self-efficacy. Participants involved in the study included newly appointed assistant principals enrolled in a suburban public school district leadership academy that included multiple coaching sessions. Data were collected via a pre and post-test instrument designed to measure perceptions of self-efficacy. Analysis of covariance was used to determine whether the null hypothesis of two research questions would be accepted or rejected. Findings showed that participants who experienced leadership coaching had statistically significant gains on post-test scores over pretest scores in all eight factors measured when controlling for pre-test scores. Furthermore, participants who experienced leadership coaching had significantly greater posttest mean scores than noncoached participants had in two of the eight measured factors when controlling for pretest scores

Occupational Health and Safety during COVID-19: A Cross-National Comparison of Discursive and Communication Practices in Italy and the US

This paper examines legal communication in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) discourse and investigates the rhetorical strategies implemented at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. To this end, the paper focuses on a dataset of legal provisions introduced as emergency legislation – measures adopted to tackle unprecedented circumstances – in Italy and the US, in order to identify commonalities and differences when informing the general public of the measures laid down particularly to protect workers in the workplace. This paper is intended to contribute to research in discourse analysis in OHS, an area of expertise which has been given fresh momentum since the onset of the pandemic. The decision to examine Italian and US emergency legislation was made in consideration of the cultural and legal differences between the two countries, which give rise to a number of discursive approaches to emergency management

Challenges and Strategies in Contrasting Industrial Relations: The English Translation of Welfare Aziendale in Company Annual Reports

The aim of this paper is to investigate the way translators deal with rendering industrial relations concepts in another language. For this purpose, an examination of the strategies adopted to translate the concept of welfare aziendale into English will be carried out in a number of annual reports issued by Italian companies listed on the Stock Exchange. The article aims to cast light on the challenges arising from comparing industrial relations concepts and the effectiveness of the techniques adopted by translators to ensure clarity in the target language. In addition, the article aims to encourage translation studies (TS) scholars to engage in the analysis of comparative industrial relations, a fascinating, though under-researched, field of analysis from a TS perspective