The development of Digital Broadcasting in Italy

The paper has two aims.The first is to show how the current features of Italian TV industry are the consequences of past regulatory intervention.The second purpose is to analyse how the current structure of Italian industry affects the policies to promote the switch from analogue to digital TV,and to consider whether these policies will be able to bring competitiion to the Italian TV market

Supersymmetric Field Theories and Isomonodromic Deformations

The topic of this thesis is the recently discovered correspondence between supersymmetric gauge theories, two-dimensional conformal field theories and isomonodromic deformation problems. Its original results are organized in two parts: the first one, based on the papers [1], [2], as well as on some further unpublished results, provides the extension of the correspondence between four-dimensional class S theories and isomonodromic deformation problems to Riemann Surfaces of genus greater than zero. The second part, based on the results of [3], is instead devoted to the study of five-dimensional superconformal field theories, and their relation with q-deformed isomonodromic problems

BPS Spectra and Algebraic Solutions of Discrete Integrable Systems

This paper extends the correspondence between discrete Cluster Integrable Systems and BPS spectra of five-dimensional $\mathcal{N}=1$ QFTs on $\mathbb{R}^4\times S^1$ by proving that algebraic solutions of the integrable systems are exact solutions for the system of TBA equations arising from the BPS spectral problem. This statement is exemplified in the case of M-theory compactifications on local del Pezzo Calabi-Yau threefolds, corresponding to q-Painlev\'e equations and $SU(2)$ gauge theories with matter. A degeneration scheme is introduced, allowing to obtain closed-form expression for the BPS spectrum also in systems without algebraic solutions. By studying the example of local del Pezzo 3, it is shown that when the region in moduli space associated to an algebraic solution is a ``wall of marginal stability'', the BPS spectrum contains states of arbitrarily high spin, and corresponds to a 5d uplift of a four-dimensional nonlagrangian theory.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figure

Progettazione di un sistema di interfaccia per bio-sensore basato su piattaforma "ISIF"

Questa tesi tratta la progettazione e realizzazione di un sistema di interfaccia e condizionamento per un bio-sensore basato su piattaforma "ISIF". La piattaforma ISIF é un sistema dotato di una sezione di acquisizione analogica, una di processamento digitale e una CPU in grado di eseguire routine firmware. L'obiettivo del presente lavoro é stato trovare la configurazione piú adeguata per la sezione analogica, nonché realizzare il firmware; inoltre é sato sviluppato un software per l'acquisizione dei dati

Clinical relevance of free peritoneal tumor cells detection in gastric and colorectal cancer: a multiple molecular approach

Background Free disseminated peritoneal tumor cells derive from the detachment from primary cancer and may result in peritoneal carcinomatosis. Peritoneal lavage cytology has low sensitivity in detecting free peritoneal tumor cells; reverse-transcriptase polymerase reaction showed higher sensitivity but low specificity. Our study introduces the combination of the RT-PCR, the immunomagnetic enrichment and the immunofluorescence for the detection of peritoneal free tumor cells. Materials and Methods Samples of peritoneal lavage were collected from 22 gastric and 45 colorectal cancer patients; samples were also obtained from 6 patients who underwent abdominal surgery for non-malignant diseases. CEA and CK20 mRNA levels were quantified using a real-time qRT-PCR system. Immunomagnetic enrichment followed by immunofluorescence analysis was performed using monoclonal antibody against the pan-epithelial marker EpCAM/CD326 and polyclonal antibodies against the carcinoembryonic antigen. Results For gastric carcinoma the positivity rate for cytology, immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR was 14%, 18% and 77% respectively; for colorectal carcinoma the positivity rate for cytology, immunofluorescence and qRT-PCR was 0%, 18% and 44% respectively. All patients except one when positive at immunofluorescence were also positive at qRT-PCR. All samples of peritoneal lavage from the control group resulted negative for cytology, IF and real time qRT-PCR. Conclusion The combination of conventional real time qRT-PCR with immunoenrichment and immunofluorescence, which permit morphological assessment and unequivocal identification of the DTCs as well as validation of the molecular analysis, could be an useful and more powerful procedure for the detection of free peritoneal tumor cells

Crisis económica en España y sus factores determinantes

El trabajo trata de analizar las causas o factores determinantes de la crisis en España desde el punto de vista de la teoría Keynesiana, analizando la evolución de factores como la inversión, el consumo y el trabajo, desembocando en medidas que se pueden tomar para la salida de la crisis.Grado en Administración y Dirección de Empresa

Underpricing and Firm’s Distance from Financial Centre: Evidence from three European Countries

We provide international evidence on the relationship between the extent of underpricing related to initial public offerings (IPOs) and the distance of the issuing firm from the financial centre of a country: for France, Germany and Italy, the higher the distance, the higher the level of underpricing. Under the maintained assumption that headquarters of institutional investors and underwriters are part of a financial centre, our evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that ex ante uncertainty regarding the value per share of an issuing firm increases with the firm’s physical distance from the underwriter. As financial centres are usually located in the richest areas of the countries concerned, spatial difference in the cost of equity financing may contribute to the persistence or the widening of local disparities.Asymmetric information, Distance, IPO, Underpricing

ICT adoption and diffusion in italian manufactoring firms

This paper sets out the results of econometric analysis carried out on a closed sample of 519 Italian manufacturing firms in order to determine which variables affected the probability of a firm investing in ICT in the period 2001-03, and which variables have an impact on the level of ICT investment. The estimates bear out a great many of the theoretical predictions and empirical findings, while also casting new light on the role of vertical integration in accounting for higher levels of ICT investmentFirm organisation, Information and Communication Technologies, Vertical Integration