Il regime giuridico della delega di sicurezza: condizioni di legittimità e limiti dell’incarico di funzioni nel nuovo assetto normativo

L'articolo si pone l'obiettivo di esaminare in dettaglio il quadro regolamentare dell’istituto - così come realizzato a mente dell'art. 16 del D.lgs. n. 81/2008 e succ. mod. - correlativamente alla più recente evoluzione giurisprudenziale e normativa, al fine di identificare i differenti livelli di responsabilità all’interno delle organizzazioni di lavoro complesse. Su tale piano, dopo aver precisato le condizioni di legittimità dell'istituto - senza trascurare il rinnovato obbligo di vigilanza e la residua posizione di garanzia del soggetto delegante - l'analisi si sofferma, in specie, sui limiti alla efficacia liberatoria della delega prevenzionistica, nonché, sulla rilevanza dei modelli di organizzazione e gestione dell'impresa, ex D.lgs. n. 231/2001, atti a consentire una presunzione di adempimento dell'obbligo di sorveglianza del datore di lavoro

Limits of stakeholder participation in sustainable development : "where facts are few, experts are many"

Extract from: The Mediterranean coastal areas from watershed to the sea : interactions and changes / by L.F. Cassar ... [et al.]. Proceedings of the MEDCORE International conference, Florence, 10th-14th November 2005The notion of including stakeholders, those affected (positively or negatively) by a sustainable development programme in both its design and implementation, has become a central concern for those implementing such programmes. Such an approach is often referred to as ‘stakeholder participation’, as ‘participatory development’ or more simply still as ‘participation’. How best to achieve this has been the topic of a substantial literature, with a host of different methodologies presented and promoted. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, but there has been surprisingly little discussion in the sustainable development literature as to the limits and dangers of participation irrespective of the approach employed to ‘best’ facilitate it. Inter-linked with the limits of participation is the role of specialists and expert opinion in sustainable development. This paper discusses the results of participatory exercises conducted in Gozo (Malta) between 2003 and 2005. On the positive side, participation yielded many useful and interesting insights and invoked a sense of ‘involvement’ in sustainable development, but there were problems and these are discussed in this paper. For example, the outcome of the exercise crucially depends upon representation, and a simplified vision of ‘community’ often employed in participation to make it practicable can load the process in favour of certain stakeholder groups at the expense of others.peer-reviewe

Determinants of health-related lifestyles among university students

AIMS: To investigate students’ health-related lifestyles and to identify barriers and social determinants of healthier lifestyles. METHODS: An online survey, two focus groups, and three in-depth interviews across 2014/15. A stratified by School size and random sample [n=468] of university students answered a 67-item questionnaire comprising six scales: RAPA, REAP-S, CAGE, FTND, SWEMWBS and ad hoc scale for drug use/misuse. Stratified by gender X2 tests were run to test associations/estimate risks and three multivariate Logistic Regression models were adjusted. A thematic approach guided the analysis of qualitative data. RESULTS: 60% of the respondents were insufficiently physically active, 47% had an unbalanced diet and 30% had low mental wellbeing. Alcohol drinkers vs. abstinent were almost equally distributed. 42% of alcohol drinkers reported getting drunk at least once a month. Smokers accounted for 16% of the respondents. Identified risk factors for suboptimal physical activity were: Being a woman, not using the university gym and smoking. For unbalanced diet: low mental wellbeing and drugs use. Poor mental wellbeing was predicted by unbalanced diet, not feeling like shopping and cooking frequently, and a lack of help-seeking behaviour in case of distress. Qualitative analysis revealed seven thematic categories: transition to new life, university environment and systems, finances, academic pressure, health promotion in campus and recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides robust evidence that the health-related lifestyles of the student population are worrying and suggests that the trend in chronic diseases associated with unhealthy lifestyles sustained over years might be unlikely to change in future generations. University students’ health-related lifestyle is a concern. Nine out of the identified ten predictors of problematic physical activity, nutrition and mental wellbeing, were environmental/societal or institutional barriers. Universities must expand corporate responsibilities to include the promotion of health as part of their core values

Alternative Information Sources and Information Asymmetry Reduction: Evidence From Small Business Debt

We examine whether more sophisticated accounting methods (in the form of accrual accounting) interact with other information sources to reduce information asymmetries between small business borrowers and lenders, thereby lowering borrowers׳ probability of loan denial and cost of debt. We find that higher third party credit scores, but not the use of accrual accounting, decrease the likelihood of loan denial. However, firms using accrual accounting exhibit statistically lower interest rates after controlling for many factors associated with the cost of debt. Further, the interest rate benefits from accrual accounting are greatest when the borrower׳s credit score is low and/or the length of its banking relationship with the lender is short. This evidence indicates that accrual accounting can benefit small business borrowers, but that the information contained in third-party credit scores and obtained through ongoing banking relationships can substitute for the incremental information provided by accrual accounting

Diabetes care and service access among elderly Vietnamese with type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Vietnamese patients are disproportionately represented in type 2 diabetes mellitus statistics and also incur high rates of diabetes complications. This situation is compounded by limited access to health care. The aim of this project was to gain a deeper understanding of the difficulties Vietnamese patients experience when accessing services and managing their type 2 diabetes mellitus, and to identify factors that are important in promoting health service use. METHODS: Three focus groups with 15 Vietnamese participants with type 2 diabetes mellitus, 60 to >70 years of age, were conducted in Vietnamese. Open-ended questions were used and focussed on experiences of living with diabetes and access to healthcare services in the Inner Northwest Melbourne region. Audio recordings were transcribed and then translated into English. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis framework. RESULTS: Findings indicate four main themes, which together provide some insight into the experiences of living with diabetes and accessing ongoing care and support, for elderly Vietnamese with type 2 diabetes. Themes included: (1) the value of being healthy; (2) controlling diabetes; (3) staying healthy; and (4) improving services and information access. CONCLUSIONS: Participants in this study were encouraged to adhere to diabetes self-management principles, based largely on a fear of medical complications. Important aspects of healthcare access were identified as; being treated with respect, having their questions answered and having access to interpreters and information in Vietnamese. Attention to these details is likely to lead to improved access to healthcare services and ultimately to improve glycemic control and overall health status for this community

Molecular crystallization inhibitors for salt damage control in porous materials. An overview

The use of inhibition chemicals holds the prospect of an efficient strategy to control crystallization in porous materials, thereby potentially contributing to the prevention or mitigation of the salt decay phenomenon in modern as well as historical building materials in a more sustainable manner. In this review, we first provide an essential background on the mechanism of salt crystallization and on the factors influencing this phenomenon; next, we illustrate the mechanism at the basis of the action of crystal growth inhibitors, and critically discuss the major advances in the development of different families of inhibitors, particularly focusing on their influence on salt transport and crystallization within the structure of porous media. Specifically, correlations between the crystallization inhibition processes in porous materials and variables, such as porous substrate composition and properties, contaminant salt type and concentrations, microclimatic conditions, inhibiting solution concentration and properties, and application methods, will be highlighted. Environmental aspects, limitations, and problems associated with some inhibition chemicals are also taken into account. Finally, a survey and a discussion on the most representative experimental techniques and instrumentation available to assess qualitatively and quantitatively the inhibitor effectiveness, as well as recently developed modelling tools are given out

Design and development of a reduced form-factor high accuracy three-axis teslameter

Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Reuben Debono for his useful guidance and help in the PCB assembly of the instruments at the Electronic Systems Lab at the Faculty of Engineering at University of Malta. The authors would like to thank R. Ganter, project leader of the Athos undulator beamline and H-H. Braun, SwissFEL machine director, for their constant support throughout the entire project. The authors would like to thank Sasa Spasic and his team at Sentronis facilities for their fruitful discussions and their guidance during testing.A novel three-axis teslameter and other similar machines have been designed and developed for SwissFEL at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). The developed instrument will be used for high fidelity characterisation and optimisation of the undulators for the ATHOS soft X-ray beamline. The teslameter incorporates analogue signal conditioning for the three-axes interface to a SENIS Hall probe, an interface to a Heidenhain linear absolute encoder and an on-board high-resolution 24-bit analogue-to-digital conversion. This is in contrast to the old instrumentation setup used, which only comprises the analogue circuitry with digitization being done externally to the instrument. The new instrument fits in a volumetric space of 150 mm × 50 mm × 45 mm, being very compact in size and also compatible with the in-vacuum undulators. This paper describes the design and the development of the different components of the teslameter. Performance results are presented that demonstrate offset fluctuation and drift (0.1–10 Hz) with a standard deviation of 0.78 µT and a broadband noise (10–500 Hz) of 2.05 µT with an acquisition frequency of 2 kHz.peer-reviewe

Calibration and characterization of a reduced form-factor high accuracy three-axis teslameter

A new reduced form-factor three axes digital teslameter, based on the spinning current technique, has been developed. This instrument will be used to characterize the SwissFEL insertion devices at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) for the ATHOS soft X-ray beamline. A detailed and standardized calibration procedure is critical to optimize the performance of this precision instrument. This paper presents the measurement techniques used for the corrective improvements implemented through non-linearity, temperature offset, temperature sensitivity compensation of the Hall probe and electronics temperature compensation. A detailed quantitative analysis of the reduction in errors on the application of each step of the calibration is presented. The percentage peak error reduction attained through calibration of the instrument for reference fields in the range of ±2 T is registered to drop from 1.94% down to 0.02%.peer-reviewe