Compact Growth and Smart City Development: The Unsustainability of Urban Sprawl

As cities become more populated, are municipal governments struggling to manage the influx of demand in the realm of power usage and city resources regarding critical infrastructure and energy management? Contemporary research centers on a prevailing view of the benefits of the compact growth smart city model over the outdated urban sprawl model regarding energy and environmental sustainability. In this study, data was collected and analyzed to provide meaningful insights for city planners and government leaders to weigh the costs and benefits of adopting the compact growth model of urban development in lieu of the urban sprawl model of expansion. Through collecting municipal data of high population cities in America, regressions were run to examine how density has an effect upon various factors supporting a city’s operational efficiency. The results of this study indicate that the urban sprawl model, popularized during the 20th century, is less sustainable than the compact growth model of smart city development, especially with increasing populations. Furthermore, future urban development plans can employ the compact growth model of smart city development to maximize infrastructure and improve energy efficiency. This paper will delve into the contention that urban areas will need to adopt the compact growth model for sustainable operations

Stabilita di sistemi sferici autogravitanti con forze r^(-α)

In questa tesi si è eseguito uno studio preliminare (con risultati positivi) volto a verificare la possibilità di estendere al caso di forze r^(-α) il Teorema di stabilità di Antonov per sistemi autogravitanti newtoniani. Tale studio è volto a capire se i risultati di stabilità attualmente noti dipendano dalla speciale natura del campo r^(-2) o se valgono più genericamente per sistemi con forze a lungo range

Recalling an unfair experience reduces adolescents’ dishonest behavioral intentions: The mediating role of justice sensitivity

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this record.Injustice experiences are likely to have a strong impact on—adolescents' life. However, individuals differ in how they perceive and respond to injustice depending on their justice sensitivity. Whereas several studies analyzed the relationships between justice sensitivity and antisocial behaviors in adult samples, little is known about this relationship among adolescents. The aim of the present experimental study is to expand knowledge on the antecedents and effects of justice sensitivity from the Victim (i.e., JS-Victim) and Others (i.e., JS-Observer, Perpetrator, and Beneficiary) perspective, particularly with regard to its relationship to willingness to act in dishonest behavioral intentions (e.g., stealing money or objects from classmates, teachers, or strangers). The study involved 369 Italian students (52% males; Mage = 16.64, SD = 1.78). We examined the role of justice sensitivity in the relationship between the recall of unfair, fair, or neutral episodes, and the consequent willingness to perform dishonest behaviors. Results demonstrate that recalling unfair (vs. fair or neutral) episodes leads to an increase in JS-Others, which in turn decreased willingness to behave dishonestly. Conversely, JS-Victim did not mediate the relationship between the recall of unfair episodes and intentions to behave dishonestly. The present findings suggest that during adolescence JS-Others might act as a protective factor against dishonest behaviors.This study was made possible due a FIRB 2012 grant from the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR; Grant Number RBFR128CR6)

Energy based vessel sealing devices in thyroid surgery: A systematic review to clarify the relationship with recurrent laryngeal nerve injuries

Background and objectives: The principal complications associated with thyroid surgery consist in postoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) palsy, hypoparathyroidism, intra-operative and post-operative hemorrhage. In this paper, structured as a literature review, we describe the current knowledge and the technical improvements currently employed in the field of thyroid surgery, focusing on the contribution of energy based devices in relation with the reduction of the operating time and the odds of possible complication. Materials and methods: a relevant systematic literature search on Pubmed was carried out including works from 2004 through 2019, selecting studies providing information on the energy based devices employed in surgeries and statistic data concerning RNL (transient and permanent) injury and operative time. Results: Nineteen studies were reviewed, dealing with 4468 patients in total. The operative variables considered in this study are: employed device, number of patients, pathological conditions affecting the patients, surgical treatment, RNL injury percentage and the operating time, offering an insight on different patient conditions and their relative operative outcomes. A total of 1843 patients, accounting to the 41.2% of the total pool, underwent the traditional technique operation, while 2605 patients (58.3%) were treated employing the energy based devices techniques. Thyroidectomy performed by approaches different from traditional (for example robotic, MIVAT (Mini Invasive Video Assisted thyroidectomy)) were excluded from this study. Conclusions: The energy-based vessel sealing devices in study, represent a safe and efficient alternative to the traditional clamp-and-tie hand technique in the thyroidal surgery scenario, granting a reduction in operating time while not increasing RNL injury rates. According to this information, a preference for energy based devices techniques might be expressed, furthermore, a progressively higher usage rate for these devices is expected in the near future

Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Antipathy Toward Immigrants and Sexual Minorities in the Early Days of the Coronavirus Pandemic in Italy

Theory and research in social, evolutionary, and political psychology indicates that subjective feelings of threat and exposure to objectively threatening circumstances—including pandemic diseases—may contribute to increased affinities for political conservatism, right-wing authoritarianism, and prejudice against out-group members. We investigated these possibilities in the context of Italy, which was the first Western country to be severely affected by the spread of COVID-19. Early on in the pandemic, from March 3–8, 2020, we surveyed 757 Italian adults ranging in age from 18 to 78 years. Results revealed that antipathy toward immigrants and sexual minorities was predicted by (male) sex, COVID-19 anxiety, RWA, and political distrust. Furthermore, COVID-19 anxiety magnified the effect of RWA on disliking of immigrants and sexual minorities (but not obese or disabled people). Contrary to prediction, political trust failed to attenuate the effects of COVID-19 anxiety or RWA on out-group antipathy. Implications for the theories of right-wing authoritarianism and political ideology as motivated social cognition, as well as the state of contemporary Italian politics are discussed

The PPARγ2 P12A polymorphism is not associated with all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

The high mortality risk of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus may well be explained by the several comorbidities and/or complications. Also the intrinsic genetic component predisposing to diabetes might have a role in shaping the risk of diabetes-related mortality. Among type 2 diabetes mellitus SNPs, rs1801282 is of particular interest because (i) it is harbored by peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ2 (PPARγ2), which is the target for thiazolidinediones which are used as antidiabetic drugs, decreasing all-cause mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus, and (ii) it is associated with insulin resistance and related traits, risk factors for overall mortality in type 2 diabetes mellitus. We investigated the role of PPARγ2 P12A, according to a dominant model (PA + AA vs. PP individuals) on incident all-cause mortality in three cohorts of type 2 diabetes mellitus, comprising a total of 1672 patients (462 deaths) and then performed a meta-analysis of ours and all available published data. In the three cohorts pooled and analyzed together, no association between PPARγ2 P12A and all-cause mortality was observed (HR 1.02, 95 % CI 0.79–1.33). Similar results were observed after adjusting for age, sex, smoking habits, and BMI (HR 1.09, 95 % CI 0.83–1.43). In a meta-analysis of ours and all studies previously published (n = 3241 individuals; 666 events), no association was observed between PPARγ2 P12A and all-cause mortality (HR 1.07, 95 % CI 0.85–1.33). Results from our individual samples as well as from our meta-analysis suggest that the PPARγ2 P12A does not significantly affect all-cause mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Choosing a similarity index to quantify gait data variability

Repeatability and reproducibility of joint kinematics can be assessed through Similarity Indices (SI) quantifying their pattern variability. These include: Coefficient of Multiple Correlation (CMC) [1]; Mean Absolute Variability (MAV) [2]; and Linear Fit Method (LFM) [3], which accounts for scaling (a1), offset (a0) and truthfulness of the linear model between the curves (R2). Among gait cycles, the intra-subject variability for a given joint is due to physiological fluctuations of the range of motion (ROM) and time shift. SIs might be differently affected for each joint, due to their different ROMs, and by marker positioning, leading to offsets among gait curves. This paper aims to investigate the effects that each of these sources of curve variability has on the SIs, in order to provide indications on which is the most suitable for the assessment of gait similarity