The 1000 day agenda: Can Renzi deliver?

The young and dynamic Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is determined to change the way politics is perceived and conducted in Italy. He has promised to deliver an ambitious economic and institutional reform agenda, but his task won’t be an easy one

Illegal Immigration and Media Exposure: Evidence on Individual Attitudes

Illegal immigration has been the focus of much debate in receiving countries, but little is known about what drives individual attitudes towards illegal immigrants. To study this question, we use the CCES survey, which was carried out in 2006 in the United States. We find evidence that - in addition to standard labor market and welfare state considerations - media exposure is significantly correlated with public opinion on illegal immigration. Controlling for education, income and ideology, individuals watching Fox News are 9 percentage points more likely than CBS viewers to oppose the legalization of undocumented immigrants. We find an effect of the same size and direction for CNN viewers, whereas individuals watching PBS are instead more likely to support legalization. Ideological self-selection into different news programs plays an important role, but cannot entirely explain the correlation between media exposure and attitudes about illegal immigration.Immigration, Illegal Immigration, Attitudes, Preferences, Media

Study and Comparison of Control and Regulation Systems for Solar Thermal Plants

Abstract Solar thermal systems are mainly used for the application of small size in the residential market, with the purpose of producing domestic hot water and, in applications that allow, covering part of heating requirements. This technology is increasingly used in other fields of application through the adoption of largest size systems that are more complicated than residential systems and require a detailed and careful design. Among the different phases of design, there is the study of the best system of management and control; this research aims to develop a help for designers during this choice. The first step of this work has been a commercial search in order to determine the current modes of control of solar thermal systems. After, were made some dynamic simulations using some of the control mode previously defined. The simulations were done with Matlab-Simulink simulation software using a stable and calibrated dynamic model. Simulink is a graphical interface that uses different types of elements (blocks) that allow creating models to simulate a dynamic system; that is, a system that can be represented by a model of differential equations or difference where the independent variable is time. Finally, the control modes were tested in a building energy retrofit

Development of an advanced simulation model for solar cooling plants

Solar Cooling systems represent an effective solution to increase the use of solar energy in buildings, satisfying cooling demand in a sustainable and efficient way. Although the reference technologies are mature (solar collectors, absorption chillers, adsorption chillers, etc.), these systems often require detailed studies to define control techniques, management integration systems and energy optimization [1,2]. This work has been focused on the development and calibration of a dynamic simulation model of a solar cooling system in order to create an efficient and robust tool to support the phases of planning and management. The model was developed in Matlab-Simulink ambient taking as a reference the system installed at the building F-51 of ENEA Research Center “Casaccia” in Rome. The calibration carried out made the model representative of reality with an average error of 10% and it has allowed us to quantify the benefits obtained by some optimization measures in order to make the maximum primary energy savings in the overall operation of the system. The simulation model can help to increase the commercial deployment of solar cooling systems when used to identify the layout of plant and the associated control strategies that maximize the system's efficiency and profitability of the investment

Chitosan glutamate hydrogels with local anesthetic activity for buccal application.

Hydrogels for the buccal application of the anesthetic drug lidocaine hydrochloride (LDC) were prepared using chitosan glutamate (CHG), a soluble salt of chitosan, or a binary mixture of CHG and glycerin, at different weight ratios. The in vitro drug release was studied at the pH value of saliva to assess the effect of the different formulations on drug delivery. The anesthetic activity of mucoadhesive LDC-CHG hydrogels was assessed in vivo after application on the buccal mucosa, compared to commercial semisolid formulations containing the same drug. LDC-loaded hydrogels can be proposed for the symptom relief of aphthosis or other painful mouth diseases

Development of an Advanced Simulation Model for Solar Cooling Plants

Abstract Solar Cooling systems represent an effective solution to increase the use of solar energy in buildings, satisfying cooling demand in a sustainable and efficient way. Although the reference technologies are mature (solar collectors, absorption chillers, adsorption chillers, etc.), these systems often require detailed studies to define control techniques, management integration systems and energy optimization [1,2]. This work has been focused on the development and calibration of a dynamic simulation model of a solar cooling system in order to create an efficient and robust tool to support the phases of planning and management. The model was developed in Matlab-Simulink ambient taking as a reference the system installed at the building F-51 of ENEA Research Center "Casaccia" in Rome. The calibration carried out made the model representative of reality with an average error of 10% and it has allowed us to quantify the benefits obtained by some optimization measures in order to make the maximum primary energy savings in the overall operation of the system. The simulation model can help to increase the commercial deployment of solar cooling systems when used to identify the layout of plant and the associated control strategies that maximize the system's efficiency and profitability of the investment

Principi e principî: cinquecento anni tra politica e morale nella riflessione storica, filosofica, letteraria

The Prince is a work that was visited uninterruptly since its first appearance five centuries ago. Despite, and perhaps partly thanks to numerous convictions, some scholars have defined Machiavelli an author unlucky in many respects, as can be seen, for example, when interpreting negatively the adjective «Machiavellian» in almost all Western languages./nIn the essay the author goes through the different interpretations of the term «machiavellism» from Rousseau to Foscolo, Lenin, De Sanctis, Bobbio, to the interpretation of the term «Machiavellanism» used by some behaviorists American psychologists to indicate a pathology.Il Principe, trabajo publicado sin interrupción desde su primera aparición, hace cinco siglos, a pesar y quizás en parte gracias a las numerosas claves, de algunos estudio, a Maquiavelo le han situado como un autor astuto y pérfido, como vemos, por ejemplo, en la interpretación negativa del adjetivo «maquiavélico» en casi todos los idiomas occidentales./nEn el artículo nuestra un camino para sobre las diferentes interpretaciones del término «maquiavélico» utilizado por Rousseau a Foscolo, Lenin, De Sanctis, Bobbio, Cruz. La interpretación del término «maquiavelismo» es utilizado por ciertos psicólogos del comportamiento de Estados Unidos para indicar una enfermedad./n Il Principe, opera frequentata in maniera ininterrotta a partire dalla sua prima apparizione cinque secoli or sono, nonostante e forse in parte grazie alle numerose condanne, ma per alcuni studiosi, Machiavelli è stato definito un autore per molti rispetti sfortunato, come si vede, per esempio, nell’interpretazione negativa dell’aggettivo «machiavellico» in praticamente tutte le lingue occidentali./nNel saggio si fa un percorso per le diverse interpretazioni del termine «machiavellismo» da Rousseau a Foscolo, Lenin, De Sanctis, Bobbio, Croce. all’interpretazione del termine «Machiavellanism» utilizzato da taluni psicologi comportamentisti statunitensi per indicare una patologia

effects of lipids and emulsifiers on the physicochemical and sensory properties of cosmetic emulsions containing vitamin e

Sensory properties are fundamental in determining the success of a cosmetic product. In this work, we assessed the influence of different oils and emulsifiers on the physicochemical and sensory properties of anti-ageing cosmetic O/W emulsions containing vitamin E acetate as active ingredient. No clear correlation between physicochemical properties and sensory characteristics was evidenced. Sensorial evaluation of these formulations pointed out that the emulsifier systems affected the perceived oiliness and absorbency during application of the product, thus influencing its acceptance. These results suggest the need for more detailed studies on the physicochemical factors involved in determining the consumers' acceptance

Characterization and TCAD Modeling of Mixed-Mode Stress Induced by Impact Ionization in Scaled SiGe HBTs

We investigate the reliability of state-of-the-art SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) in 55-nm technology under mixed-mode stress. We perform electrical characterization and implement a TCAD model calibrated on the measurement data to describe the increased base current degradation at different collector-base voltages. We introduce a simple and self-consistent simulation methodology that links the observed degradation trend to interface traps generation at the emitter/base spacer oxide ascribed to hot holes generated by impact ionization (II) in the collector/base depletion region. This effectively circumvents the limitations of commercial TCAD tools that do not allow II to be the driving force of the degradation. The approach accounts for self-heating and electric fields distribution allowing to reproduce measurement data including the deviation from the power-law behavior