Mapping sustainable development in a capability perspective

The importance of the notion of sustainable development has been advocated, among others, by Amartya Sen. In Sen’s view it is necessary to depart from the general strategy of defining sustainable development only in terms of fulfilment of needs and to use the broader perspective of enhancing human freedoms on a sustainable basis. The ultimate goal of this paper is to outline a possible operative map of sustainable development as intended in the capability approach. Our proposed operative outline concentrates on the role of instrumental freedoms and institutions, and it is based on the traditional themes – economic, environmental and social – of sustainability. For each considered theme we select a set of variables and frame them in the driving forces, response and state variables framework. State variables represent constitutive freedoms, the achieved functionings chosen from the capability set. Their variations are produced by driving forces variables. The latter are, in turn, influenced by response variables as triggered by institutional efficiency and effectiveness, upheld by instrumental freedoms. We eventually map each set of variables in order to point out how instrumental freedoms and institutions influence sustainable human development.capabilities, institutions, instrumental freedoms, sustainable development

P-V-T Behavior of 2,3,3,3-Tetrafluoroprop-1-ene (HFO-1234yf) in the Vapor Phase from (243 to 373) K

The P-V-T properties of 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoroprop-1-ene (CF 3 CFdCH 2 , HFO-1234yf), an environmentally friendly refrigerant, were measured using a constant volume apparatus. Measurements were carried out at temperatures from (243 to 373) K and at pressures from (84 to 3716) kPa. A total of 136 experimental points, taken along 12 isochores, were obtained. Our experimental results were compared with a preliminary equation of state. The measurements were also regressed to the Martin-Hou equation of state. No other data on this fluid were found in the literature for the superheated region

Description of the first instar larva of Euzonitis rubida with remarks on the systematics of the subfamily Nemognathinae (Coleoptera: Meloidae)

The first instar larva (triungulin) of Euzonitis rubida (Ménétriés, 1832) is described and illustrated. This is the first description of a triungulin of the nemognathine genus Euzonitis Semenow, 1893. This larva is very similar to that of the genus Zonitis Fabricius, 1775, the distinction of these two genera remaining difficult by using both larval and adult features. The examination at the scanning electron microscope of several characters of these and other genera of the subfamily Nemognathinae, confirms themain distinction of tribes, but better outlines the condition of some features previously incorrectly defined. Additional species of some genera were also examined and partially figured

On the eve of ecological transition? The failed institutionalization of sustainable development in Italy (1992–2020)

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) adopted in 2021 by the Italian government is explicitly committed to push the country towards a 'radical ecological transition' and sustainable development. However, the institutionalization of the paradigm of sustainable development, in Italy, is a story of a failure. The aim of this contribution is to investigate the hows and whys that may help explaining the failed institutionalization of the paradigm. By combining an ideational approach with a political system perspective, our empirical investigation analyses the initiatives promoted by Italian national governments, by covering a time span of over 20 years (1992-2020). Thick historical description and process tracing are used to provide an in-depth reconstruction of the process. Our results show that adverse combinations of factors of a cognitive, institutional and political nature have hindered the adoption of substantive policy outcomes, thus leading the institutionalization of the paradigm along a disjointed path

Strange loves: a remarkable case of aberrant copulation in beetles (Coleoptera: Meloidae, Chrysomelidae)

A case of copulation between two mimic and repellent beetle species (a male of Timarcha fracassii, and a female of Meloe autumnalis), belonging to distinct families (Chrysomelidae, Meloidae), is recorded

MarciaTesta: An Automatic Generator of Test Programs for Microprocessors' Data Caches

SBST (Software Based Self-Testing) is an effective solution for in-system testing of SoCs without any additional hardware requirement. SBST is particularly suited for embedded blocks with limited accessibility, such as cache memories. Several methodologies have been proposed to properly adapt existing March algorithms to test cache memories. Unfortunately they all leave the test engineers the task of manually coding them into the specific Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) of the target microprocessor. We propose an EDA tool for the automatic generation of assembly cache test program for a specific architectur

Validation & Verification of an EDA automated synthesis tool

Reliability and correctness are two mandatory features for automated synthesis tools. To reach the goals several campaigns of Validation and Verification (V&V) are needed. The paper presents the extensive efforts set up to prove the correctness of a newly developed EDA automated synthesis tool. The target tool, MarciaTesta, is a multi-platform automatic generator of test programs for microprocessors' caches. Getting in input the selected March Test and some architectural details about the target cache memory, the tool automatically generates the assembly level program to be run as Software Based Self-Testing (SBST). The equivalence between the original March Test, the automatically generated Assembly program, and the intermediate C/C++ program have been proved resorting to sophisticated logging mechanisms. A set of proved libraries has been generated and extensively used during the tool development. A detailed analysis of the lessons learned is reporte

Modelling sustainable human development in a capability perspective

In this paper we model sustainable human development as intended in Sen's capability approach in a system dynamic framework. Our purpose is to verify the variations over time of some achieved functionings, due to structural dynamics and to variations of the institutional setting and instrumental freedoms (IF Vortex). The model is composed of two sections. The 'Left Side' one points out the 'demand' for functionings in an ideal world situation. The real world one, on the 'Right Side' indicates the 'supply' of functionings that the socio-economic system is able to provide individuals with. The general model, specifically tailored for Italy, can be simulated over desired time horizons: for each time period, we carry out a comparison between ideal world and real world functionings. On the basis of their distances, the model simulates some responses of decision makers. These responses, in turn influenced by institutions and instrumental freedoms, ultimately affect the dynamics of real world functionings, i.e. of sustainable human development.Functionings, Capabilities, Institutions, Instrumental Freedoms, Sustainable Human Development

Larval morphology of the genus Cerocoma (Coleoptera: Meloidae) and phylogenetic implications

The Palaearctic blister beetle genus Cerocoma Geoffroy, 1762 includes species with great morphological differences in the adults, emphasised in the four subgenera. First instar larvae of three species, belonging to two different subgenera — C. (Cerocoma) schaefferi (Linnaeus, 1758), C. (Metacerocoma) prevezaensis Dvorak, 1993, C. (Metacerocoma) schreberi Fabricius, 1781 — are described and compared to that of the single other species previously known in literature, C. (Cerocomina) vahli Fabricius, 1787. First instar larvae of Cerocoma have typical features of the subfamily Meloinae, without derived characters. No relevant differences were found by a SEM morphological study, and the species can be distinguished only by morphometric characters. Consequently, subgeneric divisions, based on the adult morphology, are not supported by larval characters

An area-efficient 2-D convolution implementation on FPGA for space applications

The 2-D Convolution is an algorithm widely used in image and video processing. Although its computation is simple, its implementation requires a high computational power and an intensive use of memory. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) architectures were proposed to accelerate calculations of 2-D Convolution and the use of buffers implemented on FPGAs are used to avoid direct memory access. In this paper we present an implementation of the 2-D Convolution algorithm on a FPGA architecture designed to support this operation in space applications. This proposed solution dramatically decreases the area needed keeping good performance, making it appropriate for embedded systems in critical space application