Illegal firm behaviour and environmental hazard: The case of waste disposal

This study provides an analysis of illegal waste disposal examining how and why it occurs, with a focus on illegal industrial dumping. Organizational resource dependency theory and the bad barrel theory are used as conceptual frameworks to highlight the reasons leading firms to engage in illegal waste disposal, influenced by the firm's operational environment and characteristics, and how firms make use of it. The effects of environmental resource dependency variables and micro variables in terms of the hazard level associated with illegal waste disposal were tested separately and jointly by means of logistic regressions. Environmental resource dependency is found to be a powerful driver of the behaviour of firms, both independently and combined with certain organizational factors, with an impact on the hazardousness of illegal waste disposal. The policy implications of the findings are discussed, and a number of suggestions for preventing illegal dumping are put forward

Psychosocial Training: A Case of Self-Efficacy Improvement in an Italian School

The changes that the regulatory institutions have imposed on the Italian school system over the last decades may actually result in contradictory effects at the individual and organizational levels: resistance or indifference on the one hand and training or coping strategies on the other. The paper focuses on the impact of such changes on teachers, as professional workers within public schools and individual participants of change. The paper refers to psychosocial training as a coping strategy, analysing how school teachers deal with work-related stress, and what impact a training intervention might have on some individual dimensions. Subsequently, in the longitudinal study presented, we analysed whether the training intervention conducted was effective in terms of learning and change. The case under consideration is a primary school located in the South of Italy, and the participants in the training and research were 92 female teachers. In order to investigate the effectiveness of the designed and applied training programme, we measured how some important psychological dimensions have changed over time: self-efficacy, job satisfaction and interpersonal strain. According to a sociological learning approach, the results suggest the effectiveness of training programmes as enablers of change and solutions to some change paradoxes; when they respond to the identified needs, they are based on practical activities that require a collective participation, they focus on social relationships and processes and the knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. In the school context, the psychosocial training might represent a solution, if not a prevention strategy, for change management

Engaging Public Servants: Public Service Motivation, Work Engagement and Work-Related Stress

Considering the ongoing international debate on the role of public administrations in economic systems, public service motivation (PSM) has significantly and increasingly attracted the attention of practitioners and scholars in the past two decades. Following the research streams that have investigated topics of organizational behavior in the public context, this study examines the influence of PSM on the feeling of job satisfaction for public employees. The novelty of the study lies in linking some features of the work context considered to be more prevalent in public organizations with specific job characteristics, seen as determinant antecedents of job satisfaction. Based on two complementary studies conducted in an Italian public administration, this paper shows how PSM influences job satisfaction, job engagement, and life satisfaction. Additionally, the findings display how job engagement affects both job and life satisfaction in these particular contexts. Furthermore, the paper sheds new light on how to deal with such problems and at the same time opens new avenues for investigation

Activation of α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor by nicotine selectively up-regulates cyclooxygenase-2 and prostaglandin E(2 )in rat microglial cultures

BACKGROUND: Nicotinic acetylcholine (Ach) receptors are ligand-gated pentameric ion channels whose main function is to transmit signals for the neurotransmitter Ach in peripheral and central nervous system. However, the α7 nicotinic receptor has been recently found in several non-neuronal cells and described as an important regulator of cellular function. Nicotine and ACh have been recently reported to inhibit tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) production in human macrophages as well as in mouse microglial cultures. In the present study, we investigated whether the stimulation of α7 nicotinic receptor by the specific agonist nicotine could affect the functional state of activated microglia by promoting and/or inhibiting the release of other important pro-inflammatory and lipid mediator such as prostaglandin E(2). METHODS: Expression of α7 nicotinic receptor in rat microglial cell was examined by RT-PCR, immunofluorescence staining and Western blot. The functional effects of α7 receptor activation were analyzed in resting or lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated microglial cells pre-treated with nicotine. Culture media were assayed for the levels of tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-1β, nitric oxide, interleukin-10 and prostaglandin E(2). Total RNA was assayed by RT-PCR for the expression of COX-2 mRNA. RESULTS: Rat microglial cells express α7 nicotinic receptor, and its activation by nicotine dose-dependently reduces the LPS-induced release of TNF-α, but has little or no effect on nitric oxide, interleukin-10 and interleukin-1β. By contrast, nicotine enhances the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and the synthesis of one of its major products, prostaglandin E(2). CONCLUSIONS: Since prostaglandin E(2 )modulates several macrophage and lymphocyte functions, which are instrumental for inflammatory resolution, our study further supports the existence of a brain cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway mediated by α7 nicotinic receptor that could be potentially exploited for novel treatments of several neuropathologies in which local inflammation, sustained by activated microglia, plays a crucial role

Liquid Metals Heat-Pipe solution for hypersonic air-intake leading edge: Conceptual design, numerical analysis and verification

Embedded propulsion systems will allow future hypersonic aircraft to reach amazing levels of performance. However, their peculiar small-radius air-intake leading edges pose serious challenges from the aerothermodynamic, design, integration, and manufacturing standpoints. This paper discloses the methodology developed in the framework of the H2020 STRATOFLY project and specifically tailored to support the conceptual and preliminary design phases of future high-speed transportation systems. The methodology implements an incremental approach which includes multifidelity design, modelling and simulation techniques. The specific application to the MR3, a Mach 8 waverider configuration with an embedded dorsal mounted propulsive subsystem, is reported. Different alternative solutions have been thoroughly analysed, including five liquid metals as fluids (Mercury, Cesium, Potassium, Sodium and Lithium) and relative wick and case materials (Steel, Titanium, Nickel, Inconel® and Tungsten) and three leading-edges materials (CMC, Tungsten with low emissivity painting and Tungsten with high emissivity painting). The analysis of the heat transfer limits (the capillary, entrainment, viscosity, chocking and boiling limits) carried out for all five fluids and relative compatible materials, together with a more accurate FEM analysis, suggest the adoption of a Nickel- Potassium liquid metal heat pipe completely integrated in a platelet air-intake leading edge made of CMC material. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the adopted solution throughout all mission phases has been verified with a detailed numerical model, built upon an electrical analogy

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase plays a central role in the response of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants to short and long-term drought

The present study was undertaken to investigate the expression, occurrence and activity of glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH e EC 1.1.1.49), the key-enzyme of the Oxidative Pentose Phosphate Pathway (OPPP), in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Red Setter) exposed to short- and long-term drought stress. For the first time, drought effects have been evaluated in plants under different growth conditions: in hydroponic laboratory system, and in greenhouse pots under controlled conditions; and in open field, in order to evaluate drought response in a representative agricultural environment. Interestingly, changes observed appear strictly associated to the induction of well known stress response mechanisms, such as the increase of proline synthesis, accumulation of chaperone Hsp70, and ascorbate peroxidase. Results show significant increase in total activity of G6PDH, and specifically in expression and occurrence of cytosolic isoform (cy-G6PDH) in plants grown in any cultivation system upon drought. Intriguingly, the results clearly suggest that abscissic acid (ABA) pathway and signaling cascade (protein phosphatase 2C e PP2C) could be strictly related to increased G6PDH expression, occurrence and activities. We hypothesized for G6PDH a specific role as one of the main reductants’ suppliers to counteract the effects of drought stress, in the light of converging evidences given by young and adult tomato plants under stress of different duration and intensity

Cooling system of STRATOFLY hypersonic vehicle: conceptual design, numerical analysis and verification

This paper describes the thermal design processes of STRATOFLY hypersonic vehicle cooling system showing either the methodology and the supporting FEM numerical simulations. It focuses on two different regions that are both subjected to severe overheating: air-intake leading edges and the combustion chamber. Final remarks on structure survivability are presented

Exploring mitochondrial DNA copy number in circulating cell-free DNA and extracellular vesicles across cardiovascular health status: A prospective case-control pilot study

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading global cause of mortality, difficult to predict in advance. Evidence indicates that the copy number of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNAcn) in blood is altered in individuals with CVD. MtDNA released into circulation may act as a mediator of inflammation, a recognized factor in the development of CVD, in the long distance. This pilot study aims to test if levels of mtDNAcn in buffy coat DNA (BC-mtDNA), in circulating cellfree DNA (cf-mtDNA), or in DNA extracted from plasma extracellular vesicles (EV-mtDNA)are altered in CVD patients and if they can predict heart attack in advance. A group of 144 people with different CVD statuses (50 that had CVD, 94 healthy)was selected from the LifeLines Biobank according to the incidence of new cardiovascular event monitored in 6 years (50 among controls had heart attack after the basal assessment). MtDNAcn was quantified in total cf-DNA and EV-DNAfrom plasma as well as in buffy coat. EVs have been characterized by their size, polydispersity index, count rate, and zeta potential, by Dynamic Light Scattering.BC- mtDNAcn and cf-mtDNAcn were not different between CVD patients and healthy subjects. EVs carried higher mtDNAcn in subject with a previous history of CVD than controls, also adjusting the analysis for the EVs derived count rate. Despite mtDNAcn was not able to predict CVD in advance, the detection of increased EV-mtDNAcn in CVD patients in this pilot study suggests the need for further investigations to determine its pathophysiological role in inflammation