4,172 research outputs found
Innovation, imitation and policy inaction
The paper deals with the controversial issue of intellectual property rights. We deal with an optimization problem to model the optimal government's behavior in presence of dynamic uncertainty and intervention costs. More specifically, we search for the optimal strategies to be implemented by a policy maker to optimally balance the number of innovators and imitators. The problem is first tackled from a purely theoretical perspective and then by implementing extensive numerical simulations on the basis of empirical data. By the theoretical perspective, we obtain a rigorous proof that optimal strategies depend on the initial value of the number of imitators and not on the initial ratio between innovators and imitators, whereas the simulations provide us with intuitive insights from an economic point of view, along with a validation of the theoretical results. The results support the evidence that governments choose the possible widest bandwidth and minimize the size of interventions so as to curb intervention costs
Light microscopic evaluation of the dimensions of peri-implant mucosa around immediately loaded submerged titanium implants in monkeys.
The Best Is Yet to Come? Attitudes towards gender roles among adolescents in 36 countries
In the present article, we look at attitudes toward
gender roles among young women and men in 36 countries
with different levels of societal gender inequality. By applying
multilevel models to data from the International Civic and
Citizenship Education Study 2009, the study contributes to
our understanding of gender inequality by showing that (a)
both young women and young men (in 8th grade;
Mage = 14.39 years) display more gender-egalitarian attitudes
in countries with higher levels of societal gender equality; (b)
young women in all countries have more egalitarian attitudes
toward gender roles than young men do, but (c) the gender gap
in attitudes is more evident in more egalitarian contexts; and
(d) a higher level of maternal education is associated with
more gender-egalitarian attitudes among young women. In
contrast, no statistically significant association emerges between
maternal employment and young men\u2019s attitudes.
Overall, the findings suggest that adolescents in different contexts
are influenced by the dominant societal discourse on
gender inequality, which they interiorize and display through
their own attitudes toward gender roles. However, the findings
also indicate that young women are more responsive to external
cues than young men are. This result, coupled with the fact
that young men in egalitarian contexts have not adopted
gender-egalitarian attitudes to the same extent as young women,
is concerning because it suggests a slowdown in the
achievement of societal gender equality that is still far from
being reache
Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Composites for Microwave Absorbing Applications
The response of materials to impinging electromagnetic waves is mainly determined by their dielectric (complex permittivity) and magnetic (complex permeability). In particular, radar absorbing materials are characterized by high complex permittivity (and eventually large values of magnetic permeability), Indeed, energy dissipation by dielectric relaxation and carrier conduction are principally responsible for diminishing microwave radiation reflection and transmission in non-magnetic materials. Therefore, the scientific and technological community has been investigating lightweight composites with high dielectric permittivity in order to improve the microwave absorption (i.e., radar cross-section reduction) in structural materials for the aerospace industry. Multiwalled carbon nanotubes films and their composites with different kind of polymeric resins are regarded as promising materials for radar absorbing applications because of their high permittivity. Nanocomposites based on commercial multi-wall carbon nano-tube (MWCNT) fillers dispersed in an epoxy resin matrix were fabricated. The morphology of the filler was analyzed by Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Raman spectroscopy, while the complex permittivity and the radiation reflection coefficient of the composites was measured in the radio frequency range. The reflection coefficient of a single-layer structure backed by a metallic plate was simulated based on the measured permittivity. Simulation achievements were compared to the measured reflection coefficient. Besides, the influence of morphological MWCNT parameters (i.e., aspect ratio and specific surface area) on the reflection coefficient was evaluated. Results verify that relatively low weight percent of MWCNTs are suitable for microwave absorption applications when incorporated into polymer matrix (i.e., epoxy resin)
Novel Scintillating Materials Based on Phenyl-Polysiloxane for Neutron Detection and Monitoring
Neutron detectors are extensively used at many nuclear research facilities
across Europe. Their application range covers many topics in basic and applied
nuclear research: in nuclear structure and reaction dynamics (reaction
reconstruction and decay studies); in nuclear astrophysics (neutron emission
probabilities); in nuclear technology (nuclear data measurements and
in-core/off-core monitors); in nuclear medicine (radiation monitors,
dosimeters); in materials science (neutron imaging techniques); in homeland
security applications (fissile materials investigation and cargo inspection).
Liquid scintillators, widely used at present, have however some drawbacks given
by toxicity, flammability, volatility and sensitivity to oxygen that limit
their duration and quality. Even plastic scintillators are not satisfactory
because they have low radiation hardness and low thermal stability. Moreover
organic solvents may affect their optical properties due to crazing. In order
to overcome these problems, phenyl-polysiloxane based scintillators have been
recently developed at Legnaro National Laboratory. This new solution showed
very good chemical and thermal stability and high radiation hardness. The
results on the different samples performance will be presented, paying special
attention to a characterization comparison between synthesized phenyl
containing polysiloxane resins where a Pt catalyst has been used and a
scintillating material obtained by condensation reaction, where tin based
compounds are used as catalysts. Different structural arrangements as a result
of different substituents on the main chain have been investigated by High
Resolution X-Ray Diffraction, while the effect of improved optical
transmittance on the scintillation yield has been elucidated by a combination
of excitation/fluorescence measurements and scintillation yield under exposure
to alpha and {\gamma}-rays.Comment: InterM 2013 - International Multidisciplinary Microscopy Congres
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