2,030 research outputs found
Investment, insurance and weather shocks: Evidence from Cambodia
The livelihoods of poor people in developing countries are increasingly dependent on weather shocks whose effects are exacerbated by the lack of access to adequate insurance markets allowing risk hedging. Index-based insurance underwrites a weather risk as a proxy for economic loss: when the index falls below a certain level, farmers automatically get a payment. The aim of this paper is to study the impact of an Index-based insurance on investment decisions in profitable but risky inputs in presence of weather shocks by means of an incentivized lab-in-the-field experiment conducted in Cambodia. The protocol is designed so as to study the extent to which investment decisions change under risk or ambiguity, for different levels of initial wealth, under contract nonperformance (i.e., when claims are not repaid by the insurer) and when the insurance is fully subsidized. The findings indicate that, while the mere presence of a market for insurance increases investment, the strength of the effect crucially depends upon the level of initial wealth and upon the subjects' ability to correctly assess the probability of a shock
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Agile manufacturing: General challenges and an IoT@Work perspective
This paper describes the potential impact of the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies and architecture on factory automation. Whereas, IoT use cases range from intelligent infrastructure and smart cities to health care and shopping assistants, it is important to note that factory automation could benefit as well from an IoT approach. In this paper, we argue that there will not be one IoT but many IoTs that could differ in the type of infrastructure they are running or applications they support. In IoT@Work we focus on the potential of making manufacturing environments more agile and flexible. We explain how the IoT-centric architecture for manufacturing also needs a deep understanding of the manufacturing system and its state today. We, therefore, do a reverse engineering based on the requirements and the description of the agility expected in the automation system itself
Design, synthesis and biological activity of selective hCAs inhibitors based on 2-(benzylsulfinyl)benzoic acid scaffold
A large library of derivatives based on the scaffold of 2-(benzylsulfinyl)benzoic acid were synthesised and tested as atypical inhibitors against four different isoforms of human carbonic anhydrase (hCA I, II, IX and XII, EC 4.2.1.1). The exploration of the chemical space around the main functional groups led to the discovery of selective hCA IX inhibitors in the micromolar/nanomolar range, thus establishing robust structure-activity relationships within this versatile scaffold. HPLC separation of some selected chiral compounds and biological evaluation of the corresponding enantiomers was performed along with molecular modelling studies on the most active derivatives
Nuova formulazione delle procedure per la stima dell’intensità macrosismica da dati epicentrali o da risentimenti in zone vicine
Vengono presentate nuove relazioni empiriche, definite per il territorio italiano, per la stima dell’intensità in un dato sito a partire da informazioni epicentrali o relative a località vicine. Queste relazioni, espresse in forma probabilistica e quindi direttamente utilizzabili per la stima della pericolosità sismica, condividono la stessa formalizzazione e la medesima base informativa.
In particolare, sono state seguite tre diverse strategie: le prime due hanno portato alla definizione di una relazione di attenuazione per la stima dell’intensità al sito da dati epicentrali utilizzando una forma parametrica rispettivamente Gaussiana e Binomiale; la terza analisi è stata invece mirata a definire le modalità di “correzione” del valore locale di intensità , dedotto dalle informazioni epicentrali, con dati di risentimenti osservati in località vicine al sito in esame
Thyroid hormones modifications among COVID-19 patients undergoing pulmonary rehabilitation
Introduction: Patients with severe COVID-19 often experience long-lasting disabilities that can improve after pulmonary rehabilitation. Moreover patients with severe COVID-19 display thyroid function alterations due to a non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS). The aim of our study was to evaluate thyroid function parameters among patients hospitalized for COVID-19 who were eligible or not to respiratory rehabilitation and their modifications during follow-up. Materials and methods: Post-COVID-19 patients referred to a Respiratory Rehabilitation Unit were evaluated. Outpatients, not candidate for rehabilitation, were enrolled as Control group. Patients who had completed a 4-week-rehabilitation program were enrolled as Rehabilitation Group. All patients were evaluated at T0 (4 weeks after the discharge home in Control Group and after completion of rehabilitation in Rehabilitation Group) and at T1 (3 months after T0). Results: The final study group included 39 patients (20 in the Rehabilitation group and 19 in the Control group). Patients in the Rehabilitation Group had more frequently received invasive or non-invasive ventilation, had a longer length-of-stay in referring hospitals, had a higher number of comorbidities and displayed a worse performance at 6-minute-walking-test (6MWT) and Short-Physical-Performance-Battery-test (SPPB). FT3 values were lower at T0 in the Rehabilitation Group, while TSH and FT4 values were similar in the two groups. While no significant modifications in thyroid-function-parameters were observed in the Control Group, a significant increase in FT3 value was observed in the Rehabilitation Group at T1. Participants of both groups had improved the results of 6MWT at T1, while SPPB values improved only in the Rehabilitation Group. Conclusions: COVID-19 patients after pulmonary rehabilitation experience an increase in FT3 values during follow-up, paralleled with an amelioration of functional capabilities
Valutazioni di pericolositĂ sismica in termini di intensitĂ macrosismica utilizzando metodi di sito
Vengono presentate le stime di pericolosità sismica, in termini di intensità macrosismica, ottenute mediante l’approccio probabilistico proposto da Albarello e Mucciarelli (2002), basato sull’impiego dei dati documentari relativi agli effetti locali prodotti dai terremoti passati (storie sismiche di sito).
I risultati forniti da questa procedura (approccio “di sito”), in termini di minimo valore di intensità caratterizzato da una probabilità di eccedenza inferiore al 10% in 50 anni (Iref), sono confrontati con quelli ottenuti sul territorio italiano tramite la metodologia “standard” di Cornell-McGuire. Per meglio comprendere i motivi delle differenze osservate tra le due stime e il ruolo di differenti basi informative, sono state prodotte diverse mappe di pericolosità .
Stime di pericolosità a scala locale sono state inoltre effettuate nell’area dell’Etna dove, grazie a numerosi studi macrosismici di dettaglio, sono disponibili storie sismiche di sito particolarmente ricche
Three Dimensional Annihilation Imaging of Antiprotons in a Penning Trap
We demonstrate three-dimensional annihilation imaging of antiprotons trapped
in a Penning trap. Exploiting unusual feature of antiparticles, we investigate
a previously unexplored regime in particle transport; the proximity of the trap
wall. Particle loss on the wall, the final step of radial transport, is
observed to be highly non-uniform, both radially and azimuthally. These
observations have considerable implications for the production and detection of
antihydrogen atoms.Comment: Invited Talk at NNP03, Workshop on Non-Neutral Plasmas, 200
Novel insights on saccharin- and acesulfame-based carbonic anhydrase inhibitors: design, synthesis, modelling investigations and biological activity evaluation
A large library of saccharin and acesulfame derivatives has been synthesised and evaluated against four isoforms of human carbonic anhydrase, the two off-targets hCA I/II and the tumour related isoforms hCA IX/XII. Different strategies of scaffold modification have been attempted on both saccharin as well as acesulfame core leading to the obtainment of 60 compounds. Some of them exhibited inhibitory activity in the nanomolar range, albeit some of the performed changes led to either micromolar activity or to its absence, against hCA IX/XII. Molecular modelling studies focused the attention on the binding mode of these compounds to the enzyme. The proposed inhibition mechanism is the anchoring to zinc-bound water molecule. Docking studies along with molecular dynamics also underlined the importance of the compounds flexibility (e.g. achieved through the insertion of methylene group) which favoured potent and selective hCA inhibition
Impact of the orbital uncertainties on the timing of pulsars in binary systems
The detection of pulsations from an X-ray binary is an unambiguous signature
of the presence of a neutron star in the system. When the pulsations are missed
in the radio band, their detection at other wavelengths, like X-ray or
gamma-rays, requires orbital demodulation, since the length of the observations
are often comparable to, or longer than the system orbital period. The detailed
knowledge of the orbital parameters of binary systems plays a crucial role in
the detection of the spin period of pulsars, since any uncertainty in their
determination translates into a loss in the coherence of the signal during the
demodulation process. In this paper, we present an analytical study aimed at
unveiling how the uncertainties in the orbital parameters might impact on
periodicity searches. We find a correlation between the power of the signal in
the demodulated arrival time series and the uncertainty in each of the orbital
parameters. This correlation is also a function of the pulsar frequency. We
test our analytical results with numerical simulations, finding good agreement
between them. Finally, we apply our study to the cases of LS 5039 and LS I +61
303 and consider the current level of uncertainties in the orbital parameters
of these systems and their impact on a possible detection of a hosted pulsar.
We also discuss the possible appearance of a sideband ambiguity in real data.
The latter can occur when, due to the use of uncertain orbital parameters, the
power of a putative pulsar is distributed in frequencies lying nearby the
pulsar period. Even if the appearance of a sideband is already a signature of a
pulsar component, it may introduce an ambiguity in the determination of its
period. We present here a method to solve the sideband issue.Comment: Accepted 2012 September 08 by MNRAS. The paper contains 18 figures
and 5 table
Positron plasma diagnostics and temperature control for antihydrogen production
Production of antihydrogen atoms by mixing antiprotons with a cold, confined,
positron plasma depends critically on parameters such as the plasma density and
temperature. We discuss non-destructive measurements, based on a novel,
real-time analysis of excited, low-order plasma modes, that provide
comprehensive characterization of the positron plasma in the ATHENA
antihydrogen apparatus. The plasma length, radius, density, and total particle
number are obtained. Measurement and control of plasma temperature variations,
and the application to antihydrogen production experiments are discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
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