L'Efficienza tecnica dei distretti di Corte d'Appello italiani: aspetti metodologici, <i>benchmarking</i> e arretrato smaltibile

L’efficienza tecnica dei distretti di corte di appello italiani viene misurata mediante il metodo DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis). L’analisi consente di valutare l’efficienza relativa di ciascun distretto come distanza radiale dalla frontiera efficiente, definita dalle prassi migliori, e di individuare le variazioni dei fattori necessarie affinché un distretto inefficiente emuli il proprio benchmark (distretto o gruppo di distretti di riferimento collocati sulla frontiera). Viene inoltre effettuata la scomposizione dell’efficienza totale in efficienza tecnica pura ed efficienza di scala e, per ciascun distretto inefficiente, viene calcolato l’arretrato smaltibile. Infine, sulla base di un’analisi multivariata di tipo tobit, si stima l’influenza sull’indicatore di efficienza di una serie di fattori socio-economici del contesto territoriale

L'EFFICIENZA DEL SETTORE PUBBLICO REGIONALE ATTRAVERSO GLI INDICATORI DI CONTESTO E LA SPESA PUBBLICA CONSOLIDATA

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Organ donor pancreases for the study of human islet cell histology and pathophysiology: a precious and valuable resource

Direct in vivo assessment of pancreatic islet-cells for the study of the pathophysiology of diabetes in humans is hampered by anatomical and technological hurdles. To date, most of the information that has been generated is derived from histological studies performed on pancreatic tissue from autopsy, surgery, in vivo biopsy or organ donation. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages (as summarised in this commentary); however, in this edition of Diabetologia, Kusmartseva et al (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-017-4494-x) provide further evidence to support the use of organ donor pancreases for the study of human diabetes. They show that length of terminal hospitalisation of organ donors prior to death does not seem to influence the frequency of inflammatory cells infiltrating the pancreas and the replication of beta cells. These findings are reassuring, demonstrating the reliability of this precious and valuable resource for human islet cells research

Legal Protection Of Contract Employees Agreement In The Implementation Of Certain Time In Kendal (National Land Agency)

Reforms in the field of employment law is done with the purpose to improve and enhance the quality of labor and personnel welfare. Reformation in the field of employment law begins with the issuance of Act No. 21 of 2000 concerning Trade Union / Labor United. Then followed with the release of Act No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower. Problems in this reasearch: (1) To identify and analyze the Implementation of the Employment Agreement in the Specific Time (PKWT) At the National Land Agency of Kendal. (2) To identify and analyze the forms of legal protection for workers at National Land Agency of Kendal with the Specific Time of Work Agreement (PKWT). The results of this study are: (1) Implementation of the Employment Agreement in the Specific Time (PKWT) at the Land Office of Kendal by implementing probation on each worker who recruits including contract workers. Which it is not supposed to apply probation at a certain time and labor agreements remain to be done if the employment agreement becomes null and void. (2) The legal protection of workers / laborers at Specific Time Work Agreement (PKWT) inemployeein practice has not run optimally, given the frequent violations, because of the vagueness of the rules on the implementation of the Employment Agreement for specific time periods, in providing protection against labor law for employees in the Land Office of Kendal.Keywords: Legal Protection; Labor Contract; the National Land Agency

Electrochemical oxygen transfer reaction on synthetic boron-doped diamond thin film electrode

Synthetic boron-doped diamond thin film is a new promising anode material. Because of its properties (high anodic stability under drastic conditions and wide potential window), it is widely investigated for numerous possible electrochemical applications such as electrosynthesis, preparation of powerful oxidants and electroincineration. In the first part of this work, simple charge transfer was investigated at boron-doped diamond electrode through the study of an outer sphere system in the potential region of water stability. In a second part of this work, the electrochemical oxygen transfer reaction (EOTR) was studied in more details. Hydroxyl radicals are one of the most important intermediates produced during EOTR. Their formation depends on the electrode material as well as the potential and implies different mechanisms and reactivities. At low potential, hydroxyl radicals are produced by the dissociative adsorption of water followed by the hydrogen discharge. This reaction is assumed to take place at electrocatalytic material like platinum. When the potential is higher than 1.23 V vs SHE (thermodynamic potential of water decomposition in acidic medium), the water discharge occurs, leading to the formation of hydroxyl radicals. From this, two classes of materials can be distinguished: active and non active electrodes. It is well established that at active electrodes, a strong interaction with hydroxyl radicals exists and the EOTR occurs via the formation of an higher oxide. In contrast, at non active electrodes, the substrate does not participate in the process and the oxidation is assisted by hydroxyl radicals that are weakly adsorbed at the electrode surface. Assuming that hydroxyl radicals are the main intermediates of the reaction, a model was developed to predict the organic compounds oxidation (COD-ICE model). Another part of this work deals with the validation of the theoretical models. In addition to the COD-ICE model, another model describing the oxidation reaction in terms of flux of both hydroxyl radicals and organics (γ-ν model) was developed. Both models permitted on the one hand to predict and describe the evolution of the oxidation reaction, and on the other hand to confirm the role of hydroxyl radicals. Moreover, it was possible to perform, depending on the conditions of applied current, either a partial oxidation (into intermediates) or a total incineration (into CO2) of the organic compound. The models, developed for a one-compartment electrochemical flow cell, were also validated in both a two-compartments cell and a new electrochemical cell, called turbine cell. In addition, the development of this cell allowed us to work with well established hydrodynamic conditions. The wide potential window that exists at boron-doped diamond electrode (BDD) theoretically allows the formation of free hydroxyl radicals, whose redox potential is estimated at about 2.6 V (vs SHE). The principal aim of this work was to highlight the presence of hydroxyl radicals at BDD electrode and to study their reactivity. First, we have investigated the production of hydrogen peroxide and the competitive reaction of carboxylic acids, both of which indicated the presence of hydroxyl radicals. Then, spin trapping was performed to detect hydroxyl radicals. This method consists in trapping the radical with an appropriate scavenger to produce a stable adduct, which can be analyzed by different techniques such as electron spin resonance (ESR), UV-visible and liquid chromatography (HPLC) measurements. The spin trapping at BDD electrode was performed through three experiments, viz., the electrolysis of a solution of 5,5-dimethyl- 1-pyrroline-N-oxide (DMPO) or 4-nitroso-N,N-dimethylaniline (p-nitrosoaniline or RNO) and the hydroxylation of salicylic acid using ESR, UV and HPLC analysis, respectively. These results have confirmed the presence and the key role of hydroxyl radicals during oxidative processes at BDD electrode. The hydroxylation of salicylic acid, whose oxidation mechanism is well established and yields to two dihydroxylated isomers (2,3- and 2,5-DHBA), was investigated in more details to study the reactivity of hydroxyl radicals. The results were compared to the reactivity of hydroxyl radicals chemically produced by Fenton reaction and UV-photolysis. The comparison was based on the investigation of the isomer distribution. On the basis of our results and by analogy with chemical and biological results, a mechanism for salicylic acid hydroxylation was proposed

Expert Witnesses and Arbitration Outcomes: Insights from Public Procurement Contracts

We explore the use of expert witnesses in arbitration proceedings by analyzing public procurement contract disputes in Italy. Balancing cost with accuracy, participants to a contract select arbitration when speedy dispute resolution is valued highly. Arbitration mechanisms tend to give arbitrators discretion in how to proceed. Consequently, principal-agent problems can arise. Using an IV approach, we show that the use of an expert witness causes a slowing down of the case resolution, without having an effect on the outcome of the dispute nor resolving uncertainty as measured by unanimous decisions by the panel of arbitrators

Changes in the expression of the type 2 diabetes-associated gene VPS13C in the β cell are associated with glucose intolerance in humans and mice

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) close to the VPS13C, C2CD4A and C2CD4B genes on chromosome 15q are associated with impaired fasting glucose and increased risk of type 2 diabetes. eQTL analysis revealed an association between possession of risk (C) alleles at a previously implicated causal SNP, rs7163757, and lowered VPS13C and C2CD4A levels in islets from female (n = 40, P < 0.041) but not from male subjects. Explored using promoter-reporter assays in β-cells and other cell lines, the risk variant at rs7163757 lowered enhancer activity. Mice deleted for Vps13c selectively in the β-cell were generated by crossing animals bearing a floxed allele at exon 1 to mice expressing Cre recombinase under Ins1 promoter control (Ins1Cre). Whereas Vps13cfl/fl:Ins1Cre (βVps13cKO) mice displayed normal weight gain compared with control littermates, deletion of Vps13c had little effect on glucose tolerance. Pancreatic histology revealed no significant change in β-cell mass in KO mice vs. controls, and glucose-stimulated insulin secretion from isolated islets was not altered in vitro between control and βVps13cKO mice. However, a tendency was observed in female null mice for lower insulin levels and β-cell function (HOMA-B) in vivo. Furthermore, glucose-stimulated increases in intracellular free Ca2+ were significantly increased in islets from female KO mice, suggesting impaired Ca2+ sensitivity of the secretory machinery. The present data thus provide evidence for a limited role for changes in VPS13C expression in conferring altered disease risk at this locus, particularly in females, and suggest that C2CD4A may also be involved