Investment Shocks, Tax Evasion and the Consumption Puzzle: A DSGE Analysis with Financial Frictions

This paper contributes to the GDP-consumption comovement puzzle literature investigating the role of tax evasion in explaining the consumption path after a Marginal Efficiency of Investment shock. We use an otherwise standard medium-scale New Keynesian DSGE model combining tax evasion with financial frictions à la Bernanke, Gertler, Gilchrist (1999). The main result of our paper shows that tax evasion can considerably shrink the GDP-consumption comovement puzzle area

Barriers and Drivers in the Adoption of Advanced Wastewater Treatment Technologies: a Comparative Analysis of Italian Utilities

The adoption of new environmentally-friendly technologies is becoming a key issue in both public debate and policy arenas. The paper focuses on innovation adoption by wastewater utilities, and investigates why stringent environmental regulations are not sufficient to foster it. The adoption of advanced wastewater treatment technologies is made complex by the sunk nature of highly specific infrastructures, and the consequent exposure of utilities to political and institutional influences. In addition, it requires the involvement of various actors (utilities, suppliers, contractors), and is influenced by various stakeholders (communities, business users, citizens’ associations) that generally have no aligned objectives. With reference to the aforementioned theoretical background, our paper develops and analyzes a conceptual framework that unfolds over two dimensions: (a) the role played by firm-specific characteristics, i.e. technological and organizational capabilities and managerial professionalism; (b) the influence of community-level factors, i.e. citizens’ voice and pressure exerted by local stakeholders. We investigate these issues through multiple descriptive case studies based on semi-structured interviews with the CEOs and top managers of 11 wastewater utilities operating in a region in North-Italy. The results suggest that firm-specific resources could spur wastewater utilities into adopting innovation, despite an adverse institutional environment. At the same time, on the community-level side, the analysis shows that residents and local businesses are able to mobilize resources and exert pressure to either drive or hinder the adoption of water innovations

Coupling radio propagation and weather forecast models to maximize Ka-band channel transmission rate for interplanetary missions

Deep space (DS) missions for interplanetary explorations are aimed at acquiring information about the solar system and its composition. To achieve this result a radio link is established between the space satellite and receiving stations on the Earth. Significant channel capacity must be guaranteed to such spacecraft-to-Earth link considering their large separation distance as well. Terrestrial atmospheric impairments on the space-to-Earth propagating signals are the major responsible for the signal degradation thus reducing the link’s channel temporal availability. Considering the saturation and the limited bandwidth of the conventional systems used working at X-band (around 8.4 GHz), frequencies above Ku-band (12-18 GHz) are being used and currently explored for next future DS missions. For example, the ESA mission EUCLID, planned to be launched in 2020 to reach Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2, will use the K-band (at 25.5-27 GHz). The BepiColombo (BC) ESA mission to Mercury, planned to be launched in 2016, will use Ka-band (at 32-34 GHz) with some modules operating at X-band too. The W-band is also being investigated for space communications (Lucente et al., IEEE Systems J., 2008) as well as near-infrared band for DS links (Luini at al., 3rd IWOW, 2014; Cesarone et al., ICSOS, 2011). If compared with X-band channels, K-band and Ka-band can provide an appealing data rate and signal-to-noise ratio in free space due to the squared-frequency law increase of antenna directivity within the downlink budget (for the same physical antenna size). However, atmospheric path attenuation can be significant for higher frequencies since the major source of transmission outage is not only caused by convective rainfall, as it happens for lower frequencies too, but even non-precipitating clouds and moderate precipitation produced by stratiform rain events are detrimental. This means that accurate channel models are necessary for DS mission data link design at K and Ka band. A physical approach can offer advanced radiopropagation models to take into account the effects due to atmospheric gases, clouds and precipitation. The objective of this work is to couple a weather forecast numerical model with a microphysically- oriented radiopropagation model, providing a description of the atmospheric state and of its effects on a DS downlink. This work is developed in the framework of the RadioMeteorological Operations Planner (RMOP) program, aimed at performing a feasibility study for the BC mission (Biscarini et al., EuCAP 2014). The RMOP chain for the link budget computation is composed by three modules: weather forecast (WFM), radio propagation (RPM) and downlink budget (DBM). WFM is aimed at providing an atmospheric state vector. Among the available weather forecast models, for RMOP purposes we have used the Mesoscale Model 5. The output of the WFM is the input of the RPM for the computation of the atmospheric attenuation and sky-noise temperature at the receiving ground station antenna. RPM makes use of radiative transfer solver based on the Eddington approximations well as accurate scattering models. Time series of attenuation and sky-noise temperature coming from the RPM are converted into probability density functions and then ingested by the DBM to compute the received data volume (DV). Using the BC mission as a reference test case for the Ka-band ground station at Cebreros (Spain), this work will show the advantages of using a coupled WFM-RPM approach with respect to climatological statistics in a link budget optimization procedure. The signal degradation due to atmospheric effects in DS links in terms of received DV will be also investigated not only at Ka band, but also at X, K and W for intercomparison. The quality of the DS downlink will be given in terms of received DV and the results at different frequencies compared showing the respective advantages and drawbacks

Realizzazione di una stazione terrena ricevente satellitare per studi di propagazione elettromagnetica in atmosfera

Il satellite per telecomunicazioni Alphasat, il più grande realizzato in Europa e collocato in orbita geostazionaria nel luglio del 2013, ospita a bordo una piattaforma scientifica (TDP-5 “Aldo Paraboni”) destinata allo studio della ropagazione elettromagnetica in atmosfera in alcune bande di frequenze a microonde tra cui la banda Ka (20 GHz) e la banda Q (40 GHz). Alle sperimentazioni partecipano numerose Università ed Enti di ricerca di tutta Europa, in Italia su iniziativa dell'ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana) sono coinvolti, tra gli altri, il Politecnico di Milano e le Università di Roma Tor Vergata e Sapienza. Presso l'ISCTI (Istituto Superiore delle Comunicazioni e delle Tecnologie dell'Informazione) è stata realizzata una stazione ricevente con minima spesa, grazie all'utilizzo di componenti appartenenti a ricevitori non più operativi, e dotata di piattaforme open-source per l’implementazione di funzioni aggiuntiv

The Impact Of Inward Licensing On New Venture’s Performance. Is inward licensing a winning strategy?

The original idea of the thesis draws on interrelated assumptions: 1) among the tools used, in the markets for technology, for the acquisition of external knowledge, the licensing agreements are acknowledged as one of the most important contractual mechanisms; 2) the liabilities of newness and the liabilities of smallness force new venture to strongly rely on external knowledge sources. Albeit the relevance of this topic, little attention has been paid so far to its investigation, especially in the licensing context; 3) nowadays there is an increasing trend in licensing practices, but the literature on markets for technology focuses almost exclusively on the incentives and rationales that foster firms’ decisions to trade their technologies, under-investigating the role of the acquiring firm, the licensee, overlooking the demand side of the market. Therefore, the thesis investigates the inward licensing phenomenon within the context of new ventures. The main questions that new venture licensee has to address if it decides to undertake an inward licensing strategy, can be summarized as follows: 1) Is convenient for a new venture to choose, as initial technology strategy, the implementation of an inward licensing ? 2) Does this decision affect its survival probabilities? 3) Does the age, at which a new venture becomes a licensee, affect its innovative capabilities? Is it better to undertake a licensing-in strategy soon after founding or to postpone this strategy until the new venture has accumulated significant resources? The findings suggest that new ventures licensees survive less than their non-licensee counterparts; the survival rates are directly connected to the time taken by firms to reach the market;being engaged in licensing-in deals some years after its inception allows a new venture licensee to increase its subsequent capacity to produce innovations

Risk factors of HIV-related oral lesions in adults

OBJETIVO: Analisar fatores de risco para a ocorrência de lesões bucais em adultos soropositivos para o HIV. MÉTODOS: Estudo transversal, descritivo analítico de prontuários médicos/odontológicos de 534 pacientes com lesões bucais associadas ao HIV em Porto Alegre, RS, no período de 1996 a 2011. Os dados foram coletados em cinco centros de referência em saúde para o atendimento de portadores do HIV e comorbidades associadas. Os dados sociodemográficos e clínico-laboratoriais foram coletados em formulários padronizados. Foram incluídos dados exclusivamente de lesões com diagnóstico definitivo e classificadas de acordo com os critérios da ECC on Oral Problems Related to HIV Infection. A análise dos dados foi realizada mediante a aplicação de tabulações cruzadas, teste do Qui-quadrado e modelos de regressão logística. RESULTADOS: Níveis de CD4+ ; 5.000 cópias/mm³ (p = 0,003) e tabagismo (p = 0,005). CONCLUSÕES: Graus de imunodeficiência moderados e severos e cargas virais detectáveis foram fatores de risco para o desenvolvimento de lesões bucais. O consumo de tabaco e álcool aumentou a suscetibilidade de desenvolver infecções oportunistas em adultos HIV positivos, independentemente do uso de terapia antirretroviral.OBJETIVO: Analizar factores de riesgo para la ocurrencia de lesiones bucales en adultos seropositivos para VIH. MÉTODOS: Estudio transversal, descriptivo analítico de prontuarios médicos/odontológicos de 534 pacientes con lesiones bucales asociadas al VIH en Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, en el período de 1996 a 2011. Los datos se colectaron en cinco centros de referencia en salud para la atención de portadores del VIH y comorbilidades asociadas. Los datos sociodemográficos y clínico-laboratoriales se colectaron en formularios estandarizados. Se incluyeron datos exclusivamente de lesiones con diagnóstico y clasificadas de acuerdo con los criterios de la ECC on Oral Problems Related to HIV Infection. El análisis de los datos fue realizado mediante la aplicación de tabulaciones cruzadas, prueba de Chi-cuadrado y modelos de regresión logística. RESULTADOS: Niveles de CD4+ < 350 células/mm³ (p; 5.000 copias/mm³ (p = 0,003) y tabaquismo (p = 0,005). CONCLUSIONES: Grados de inmunodeficiencia moderados y severos y cargas virales detectables fueron factores de riesgo para el desarrollo de lesiones bucales. El consumo de tabaco y alcohol aumentó la susceptibilidad de desarrollar infecciones oportunistas en adultos VIH positivos, independientemente del uso de terapia anti=retroviral.OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk factors in the occurrence of oral lesions in HIV-positive adults. METHODS: A retrospective analytical-descriptive survey was conducted using the medical/dental records of 534 patients with oral lesions associated with HIV. The data were collected from five referral centers for managing HIV and associated comorbidities in the city of Porto Alegre, Southern Brazil, between 1996 and 2011. Using a standardized form, socio-demographic and clinical data were recorded. Exclusively and definitively diagnosed oral pathologies were included and classified according to ECC criteria on Oral Problems Related to HIV Infection. For data analysis cross-tabulations, Chi-squared tests and logistic regression models were used where appropriate. RESULTS: CD4+ counts lower than 350 cells/mm³ (p < 0.001), alcohol consumption (p = 0.011) and female gender (p = 0.031) were predisposing factors for oral candidiasis. The occurrence of hairy leukoplakia was independently associated with CD4+ counts below 500 cells/mm³, (p = 0.029) a viral load above 5,000 copies/mm³ (p = 0.003) and smoking (p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: Moderate and severe degrees of immunodeficiency and detectable viral loads were risk factors for the onset of oral lesions. Smoking and alcohol consumption also increased susceptibility to the development of opportunistic infections in HIV-positive adults from Porto Alegre, irrespective of the use of antiretroviral therapy

O6-[(2”,3”-O-Isopropylidene-5”-O-tbutyldimethylsilyl)pentyl]- 5′-O-tbutyldiphenylsilyl-2′,3′-O-isopropylideneinosine

Cyclic adenosine diphosphate ribose (cADPR) is a cyclic nucleotide involved in the Ca2+ homeostasis. In its structure, the northern ribose, bonded to adenosine through an N1 glycosidic bond, is connected to the southern ribose through a pyrophosphate bridge. Due to the chemical instability at the N1 glycosidic bond, new bioactive cADPR derivatives have been synthesized. One of the most interesting analogues is the cyclic inosine diphosphate ribose (cIDPR), in which the hypoxanthine replaced adenosine. The efforts for synthesizing new linear and cyclic northern ribose modified cIDPR analogues led us to study in detail the inosine N1 alkylation reaction. In the last few years, we have produced new flexible cIDPR analogues, where the northern ribose has been replaced by alkyl chains. With the aim to obtain the closest flexible cIDPR analogue, we have attached to the inosine N1 position a 2”,3”-dihydroxypentyl chain, possessing the two OH groups in a ribose-like fashion. The inosine alkylation reaction afforded also the O6-alkylated regioisomer, which could be a useful intermediate for the construction of new kinds of cADPR mimics

La structure de la révolution numérique (philosophie de la technologie)

De quoi la révolution numérique est-elle la révolution ? Le premier niveau d analyse s inscrit sur le plan de l histoire. Il vise à dégager la structure historique de la révolution numérique, en délimitant d abord son périmètre diachronique et en dégageant sa place particulière au sein de l histoire générale des techniques. L hypothèse, c est que la révolution numérique n est pas un changement d outillage mais un événement d histoire, qui s inscrit dans le long processus de la machinisation de l Occident et de la succession des systèmes techniques pour aboutir à l émergence d un nouveau système technique : la révolution numérique, c est la révolution de notre infrastructure technique systémique, c est-à-dire l avènement du système technique numérique . Dans cette partie, nous privilégions le terrain historique et les données empiriques qu il fournit, au nom d une philosophie de la technologie fermement opposée à toute métaphysique misotechnique. Le second niveau d analyse s inscrit sur le plan de la perception. Au-delà de la seule révolution numérique, il vise à dégager la structure phénoménologique de toute révolution technique, en remontant aux conditions techniques de toute perception en général. L hypothèse, c est qu une révolution technique est toujours une révolution ontophanique, c est-à-dire un ébranlement du processus par lequel l être (ontos) nous apparaît (phaïnô) et, par suite, un bouleversement de l idée même que nous nous faisons de la réalité. Nous nous appuyons ici sur la notion de phénoménotechnique empruntée à Gaston Bachelard, qui nous conduit à défendre un constructivisme phénoménologique selon lequel toute technique est une matrice ontophanique, dans laquelle se coule notre expérience-du-monde possible. Comme les précédentes, la révolution numérique apparaît alors comme une révolution de nos structures perceptives, dont la violence phénoménologique permet au passage d expliquer le succès et le déclin de la notion de virtuel. De cette dernière, nous proposons une généalogie critique et nous montrons qu elle n a été jusqu ici qu une tentative ratée d élucider la phénoménalité numérique, en raison de la rêverie de l irréel qu elle induit. Le troisième niveau d analyse s inscrit sur le plan de la phénoménalité numérique enfin abordée dans sa positivité. Il vise à saisir la structure ontophanique de la révolution numérique, c est-à-dire la nature de l être des êtres numériques. L hypothèse, c est que l ontophanie numérique résulte de onze caractéristiques phénoménologiques propres à la matière calculée, qui sont présentées dans un ordre didactique favorisant la compréhension globale du phénomène numérique. Il s agit de la nouménalité, l idéalité, l interactivité, la virtualité, la versatilité, la réticularité, la reproductibilité instantanée, la réversibilité, la destructibilité, la fluidité et la ludogénéité. Nous terminons alors en analysant la responsabilité des activités de conception-création dans la genèse phénoménotechnique du réel et en particulier le rôle du design dans la constitution créative de l ontophanie numérique. En tant qu activité phénoménotechnique, le design est non seulement une activité créatrice d ontophanie, mais encore une activité intentionnellement factitive, c est-à-dire qui vise à faire-être autant qu à faire-faire, en vue de projeter l enchantement du monde. C est pourquoi le design numérique, parce qu il a la capacité d engendrer de nouveaux régimes d expériences interactives, joue un rôle essentiel dans le modelage de la révolution numérique. La révolution numérique, c est aussi quelque chose qui se sculpte et se façonne, se coule et se moule dans les projets des designers. C est une révolution de notre capacité à faire le monde, c est-à-dire à créer de l être.What is the digital revolution the revolution of ? What is turned upside down and disturbed, reformed and transformed, in the so-called digital revolution ? To answer this, digital revolution is approached here from the point of view of a philosophy of technology which assumes that our being-in-the-world is fundamentally conditioned by technique and always has been. The first level of this approach focuses on the historical structure of the digital revolution. The hypothesis is that the digital revolution is an event in history that is part of the long process of mechanization in the West and consists in the advent of a digital technical system . The second level concerns the phenomenological structure of the digital revolution. The hypothesis is that a technical revolution is always ontophanic, that is to say a shaking of the structures of perception and of the process through which the being appears to us. This results in phenomenological constructivism, based on the notion of phenomenotechnique, which ultimately condemns the notion of virtual . The third and final level of analysis focuses on the ontophanic structure of the digital revolution. The hypothesis is that digital ontophany consists of eleven fundamental characteristics : noumenality, ideality, interactivity, virtuality, versatility, reticularity, instant reproducibility, reversibility, destructibility, fluidity and ludogeneity. The role of design as a phenomenotechnical activity that shapes the world is therefore essential in the creative development of the digital ontophany.PARIS5-Bibliotheque electronique (751069902) / SudocSudocFranceF