Impact of Built Environment Dispersion on Urban Mobility

The scattered growth of the city is a common phenomenon occurred with a certain intensity in Europe since the early 80s of last century, due to various causes and producing consequences in different sectors. In this study we examined the effects of urban sprawl, on commuting mobility within the municipalities, in terms of change in modal split from which, as is known, externalities from the transport system largely depend. To this end, with reference to a large sample of capital cities, we studied statistical relationships between specially built indicators of urban sprawl and characteristic parameters of mobility, including the modal split. The results allowed us to consider the existence of possible cause - effect relationships between the variables examined as well as to verify the representativeness of settlement selected variables and to build some statistical models able to reproduce the interactions between urban sprawl and modal split. By these models we estimated the likely lower use of private transport resulting from a less urban sprawl and the consequences on CO2 emissions and on revenues for public transport

Assessment of the subsidy to the municipal public transit minimum services

This research works out some tools to support the decision-makers in the allocation of the subsidies to the municipalities to run the public transit service up to them. By means of these tools we can quantify the municipality minimum service, as specified under the 1st paragraph of the article 16 of the Italian Decreto Legislativo 422/1997, and assess the reference unit cost. The implementation of these tools in a study case has allowed to verify its operation

Universality of GR b-value gradients for different tectonic regimes and inferences on a differential stress dependence

Variations in earthquakes size-distribution (b-value) have a central importance in modern seismology. Starting from the late 60’s, the possible explanation of such variations has been found into the Earth’s crust stress differences, going far from the classical view of a constancy of the b- value itself. In fact, stress is the determinant parameter controlling the faulting mechanisms of earthquakes: compressions (thrust faults) accompany higher stresses with respect to extensive (normal faults) mechanisms, with transcurrences (strike-slip faults) in the middle of them. In this thesis, it is showed that earthquakes size-distribution, stress and faulting styles have a clear and straightforward connection both on global and local scale: if the magnitude of b is inversely related to differential stress (as confirmed by laboratory experiments), which, in turn, depends on faulting styles, b-value is expected to vary systematically. By using classical formulations of Anderson and Mohr-Coulomb, the different behaviors of b-value on tectonic styles as due to stress are modeled in new, unreported ways. A sinusoidal behavior of b-value on the rake angle of the focal mechanisms is thought to be a good first-order model for expressing the dependence on tectonic style. Moreover, using a ternary scheme of the focal mechanisms, a second-order effect of differential stress on b- value for dip-slip mechanisms is detected. Finally, using high-quality local dataset for Southern California, the single dependences of b (inverse linearity on depth and separation on faulting styles) are modeled, firstly on their own and then together in a single, universal model, able to be the best explicator of the physical reality. All the analyses shown in this thesis result in a big improvement for supporting the theory of the variations of b connected to stress differences

Remembrance of Professor David Gregory

The Board and Staff of the Maine Law Review dedicate this issue to the memory of Professor David Doliver Gregory, who passed away on December 9, 2000. The Maine legal community and the University of Maine School of Law mourn the loss of our beloved teacher, advocate, and friend. In the collective memory of his students, Professor Gregory will always be remembered for the Socratic genius that he employed so effectively in class; his keen wit, often accompanied by a knowing smile and a twinkle in his eyes; his passion for ferreting out seemingly elusive legal principles; and his compassion and warmth for those he instructed. Perhaps above all, Professor Gregory will be recalled as the archetypal Law Professor that he was. He was the rarest of educators, someone who taught us how to challenge ourselves intellectually, and who demonstrated both in his life and in his teaching that the law not only reaches all facets of society but also touches upon the most fundamental and important aspects of human existence itself. On January 17, 2001 hundreds of his colleagues and students gathered at the First Parish Church in Portland, Maine to celebrate Professor Gregory\u27s life. What follows are the remembrances delivered at the memorial service and two tributes from professional colleagues that give a picture of his life in the courtroom and the classroom

Compressive X-ray phase tomography based on the transport of intensity equation

We develop and implement a compressive reconstruction method for tomographic recovery of refractive index distribution for weakly attenuating objects in a microfocus X-ray system. This is achieved through the development of a discretized operator modeling both the transport of intensity equation and X-ray transform that is suitable for iterative reconstruction techniques

The accessibility produced by a local transit network

This research sets some accessibility indicators referred to a road intercity transit system for commuting users within a district. The aim is to make available some accessibility measure tools by which evaluate the effects, on this performance, of the actions designed for a local transit network

Feeder-trunk and direct-link schemes for public transit: a model to evaluate the produced accessibility

In a public transport network, a more intense integration between lines generally involves, on one hand, the reduction in the number of direct links, which forces users to perform more transfers, and on the other hand, the possibility of achieving a greater number of rides with the same whole mileage. Thus, the move towards feeder-trunk schemes produces both negative and positive effects on accessibility and on the quality of service perceived by users. That implies the need to evaluate accessibility realized on a territory by transit service patterns characterized by different levels of line integration. This research was focused on the development of an accessibility model able to estimate an equivalent travel time and to consider the discomfort resulting from possible transfers between vehicles and the benefits arising from available transit rides. As reported in this paper, the proposed model, that measures accessibility through an equivalent travel time, determines the latter as a function, in addition to the time spent inside the vehicle, also of the time and discomfort consequent to the transfers as well as of the number of supplied rides. With reference to the regional public transport, the values obtained by the calibration of the constants show how the waiting time has a weight for the user twice as much compared to the time spent on the vehicle, whilst the time required for the transfer has about a one and a half weight. Finally, the discomfort caused by each transfer is evaluated by the user as an increase to the overall travel time of about 3 and a half minutes. The calibrated model has been applied to a real case, in order to validate it and highlight benefits and limitations resulting from feeder-trunk supply patterns. The developed tool is useful in the design of a public transport service, especially in areas with weak demand, allowing to compare, in terms of produced accessibility, supply schemes with different levels of line integration, variable from direct-link type (also called point to point) to that feeder-trunk

Communicating corporate social responsibility to involve stakeholders. The case of employer branding for university students

La responsabilità sociale d'impresa (o Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR) è uno strumento efficace di marketing e la sua efficacia è mediata dalla modalità con cui le aziende comunicano le proprie attività di CSR agli stakeholder. La ricerca si propone di valutare l'effetto di cinque strategie di comunicazione della CSR, ordinate secondo un livello crescente di coinvolgimento degli stakeholder, sull'Employer Branding (EB) di un'azienda ipotetica. Attraverso la distribuzione di cinque varianti di un opuscolo, l’azienda è stata presentata a due campioni di studenti universitari (n=167; n=112) in cinque diversi scenari comunicativi della CSR. È stato somministrato un questionario con scale che misurano l’attrattività dell'azienda, il prestigio percepito dell'azienda, la disponibilità dei soggetti a entrare in contatto con l'azienda e l’impegno prospettico sul lavoro. È stata anche indagata la percezione della brand personality e della comunicazione della CSR. Le analisi confermano che tutti e cinque gli scenari sono caratterizzati da alti livelli delle dimensioni dell’EB, però lo specifico dialogo di CSR adottato può generare differenti percezioni della brand personality dell'azienda.Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) is an effective marketing lever, and its effectiveness is mediated by the strategies companies use to communicate their CRS activities to stakeholders. The present research aims at assessing the effect of five CSR communicative strategies, ranked according to an increasing involvement level of stakeholders, on a fictional company’s Employer Branding (EB). The company was presented to two samples of university students (n=167; n=112) via the administration of five different versions of a brochure, corresponding to five different communicative scenarios of CSR. A self-report questionnaire was administrated, with scales measuring the company’s attractiveness, perceived prestige, intention to contact the company, and prospective engagement, as well as the company’s perceived brand personality and CSR communication. Analyses report high levels of the EB dimensions in all five communicative scenarios, which however produce different perceptions of the company’s brand personality