3,659 research outputs found
Social capital and rural innovation process. The evaluation of the measure 124 \u201cCooperation for Development of New Products, Processes and Technologies in the Agriculture, Food and Forestry Sector\u201d in the Umbria Region (Italy)
The most recent theories on innovation point out the role of social networks, demonstrating how knowledge is intertwined with network communities and social capital represents an essential factor to comprehend innovation. The social network dimension of the innovation process is also acknowledged in the actual definition of an agricultural innovation system (AIS). This study attempts to assess the role played by social capital in agricultural innovation projects co-financed by the Measure 124 of the Rural Development Program (2007-2013) of the Umbria Region (Italy), based on the analysis of 5 evaluation criteria (relevance, innovation, effectiveness, sustainability, and social capital) in relation to 8 selected projects. The obtained results confirm the validity of the proposed methodology both for the purpose of internal monitoring of the project and for the assessment of the measure on the basis of tangible and intangible factors, such as social capital
Co-constructing a new framework for evaluating social innovation in marginalized rural areas
The EU funded H2020 project \u2018Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas\u2019 (SIMRA; www.simra-h2020.eu) has the overall objective of advancing the state-of-the-art in social innovation. This paper outlines the process for co- developing an evaluation framework with stakeholders, drawn from across Europe and the Mediterranean area, in the fields of agriculture, forestry and rural development. Preliminary results show the importance of integrating process and outcome-oriented evaluations, and implementing participatory approaches in evaluation practice. They also raise critical issues related to the comparability of primary data in diverse regional contexts and highlight the need for mixed methods approaches in evaluation
On the thermal and double episode emissions in GRB 970828
Following the recent theoretical interpretation of GRB 090618 and GRB 101023,
we here interpret GRB 970828 in terms of a double episode emission: the first
episode, observed in the first 40 s of the emission, is interpreted as the
proto-black-hole emission; the second episode, observed after t+50 s, as a
canonical gamma ray burst. The transition between the two episodes marks the
black hole formation. The characteristics of the real GRB, in the second
episode, are an energy of erg, a
baryon load of and a bulk Lorentz factor at transparency
of . The clear analogy with GRB 090618 would require also in
GRB 970828 the presence of a possible supernova. We also infer that the GRB
exploded in an environment with a large average particle density part/cm and dense clouds characterized by typical dimensions
of cm and . Such an environment
is in line with the observed large column density absorption, which might have
darkened both the supernova emission and the GRB optical afterglow.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures, submitted to Ap
Short-Term Neurodevelopmental Outcome in Term Neonates Treated with Phenobarbital versus Levetiracetam: A Single-Center Experience
BACKGROUND: Phenobarbital (PB) has been traditionally used as the first-line treatment for neonatal seizures. More recently, levetiracetam (LEV) has been increasingly used as a promising newer antiepileptic medication for treatment of seizures in neonates. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study was to compare the effect of PB vs. LEV on short-term neurodevelopmental outcome in infants treated for neonatal seizures. METHOD: This randomized, one-blind prospective study was conducted on term neonates admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of S. Bambino Hospital, University Hospital "Policlinico-Vittorio Emanuele," Catania, Italy, from February 2016 to February 2018. Thirty term neonates with seizures were randomized to receive PB or LEV; the Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination (HNNE) was used at baseline (T0) and again one month after the initial treatment (T1). RESULTS: We found a significantly positive HNNE score for the developmental outcomes, specifically tone and posture, in neonates treated with LEV. There was no significant improvement in the HNNE score at T1 in the neonates treated with PB. CONCLUSION: This study suggests a positive effect of levetiracetam on tone and posture in term newborns treated for neonatal seizures. If future randomized-controlled studies also show better efficacy of LEV in the treatment of neonatal seizures, LEV might potentially be considered as the first-line anticonvulsant in this age grou
Uniform current in graphene strip with zigzag edges
Graphene exhibits zero-gap massless-Dirac fermion and zero density of states
at E = 0. These particles form localized states called edge states on finite
width strip with zigzag edges at E = 0. Naively thinking, one may expect that
current is also concentrated at the edge, but Zarbo and Nikolic numerically
obtained a result that the current density shows maximum at the center of the
strip. We derive a rigorous relation for the current density, and clarify the
reason why the current density of edge state has a maximum at the center.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; added references and corrected typos, to be
published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol.78 No.
A common behavior in the late X-ray afterglow of energetic GRB-SN systems
The possibility to divide GRBs in different subclasses allow to understand
better the physics underlying their emission mechanisms and progenitors. The
induced gravitational collapse scenario proposes a binary progenitor to explain
the time-sequence in GRBs-SNe. We show the existence of a common behavior of
the late decay of the X-ray afterglow emission of this subclass of GRBs,
pointing to a common physical mechanism of their late emission, consistent with
the IGC picture.Comment: 3 pages, to appear in the proceedings of the Gamma-Ray Burst
Symposium 2012 - IAA-CSIC - Marbella, editors: Castro-Tirado, A. J.,
Gorosabel, J. and Park, I.
Cluster Dynamical Mean-field calculations for TiOCl
Based on a combination of cluster dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) and
density functional calculations, we calculated the angle-integrated spectral
density in the layered quantum magnet TiOCl. The agreement with recent
photoemission and oxygen K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments is
found to be good. Th e improvement achieved with this calculation with respect
to previous single-site DMFT calculations is an indication of the correlated
nature and low-dimensionality of TiOCl.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, improved version as publishe
Induced gravitational collapse at extreme cosmological distances: the case of GRB 090423
CONTEXT: The induced gravitational collapse (IGC) scenario has been
introduced in order to explain the most energetic gamma ray bursts (GRBs),
Eiso=10^{52}-10^{54}erg, associated with type Ib/c supernovae (SNe). It has led
to the concept of binary-driven hypernovae (BdHNe) originating in a tight
binary system composed by a FeCO core on the verge of a SN explosion and a
companion neutron star (NS). Their evolution is characterized by a rapid
sequence of events: [...]. AIMS: We investigate whether GRB 090423, one of the
farthest observed GRB at z=8.2, is a member of the BdHN family. METHODS: We
compare and contrast the spectra, the luminosity evolution and the
detectability in the observations by Swift of GRB 090423 with the corresponding
ones of the best known BdHN case, GRB 090618. RESULTS: Identification of
constant slope power-law behavior in the late X-ray emission of GRB 090423 and
its overlapping with the corresponding one in GRB 090618, measured in a common
rest frame, represents the main result of this article. This result represents
a very significant step on the way to using the scaling law properties, proven
in Episode 3 of this BdHN family, as a cosmological standard candle.
CONCLUSIONS: Having identified GRB 090423 as a member of the BdHN family, we
can conclude that SN events, leading to NS formation, can already occur already
at z=8.2, namely at 650 Myr after the Big Bang. It is then possible that these
BdHNe originate stem from 40-60 M_{\odot} binaries. They are probing the
Population II stars after the completion and possible disappearance of
Population III stars.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures, to appear on A&
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