Le tecnologie dell'informazione e della comunicazione nelle piccole imprese dei settori maturi

La diffusione delle tecnologie dell'informazione e della comunicazione ha determinato profondi cambiamenti nelle economie industrializzate sintetizzati nel concetto di New economy. Le determinanti dell'adozione e gli effetti di queste tecnologie sono stati ampiamente studiati per quanto riguarda le grandi imprese ma assai meno per le piccole. Il lavoro si propone di fornire evidenza empirica sulla diffusione e sulle modalità e i livelli d'uso nelle piccole imprese italiane dei settori maturi. Dall'analisi emerge che le tecnologie più semplici e di minor costo fanno ormai parte della dotazione di quasi tutte le piccole imprese indipendentemente dalla dimensione ma stentano ancora a diffondersi quelle più complesse e le modalità d'uso high end. L'analisi econometrica mostra che la diffusione è influenzata oltreché dalla dimensione anche dai livelli di istruzione della forza lavoro, dalla pressione competitiva dei mercati e dall'inserimento in reti di relazioni con altre imprese

Saperi locali, innovazione tecnologica e sviluppo economico: indagine su un campione di imprese sarde

L'analisi empirica dello sviluppo locale ha fornito un notevole contributo alla comprensione dei meccanismi sottostanti alle dinamiche dei sistemi economici locali. L'oggetto di tale analisi sono stati prevalentemente sistemi locali di successo come i distretti industriali. Minore attenzione hanno invece ricevuto le aree in cui, nonostante la presenza diffusa di un know how ricco e sofisticato, non si è ancora innescato alcun meccanismo di sviluppo endogeno. Il lavoro analizza il caso di un campione di imprese sarde appartenenti a settori fortemente radicati nei saperi tradizionali, esaminando in particolare il comportamento innovativo e le sue determinanti. La limitata crescita delle imprese è attribuita ad alcune caratteristiche peculiari di queste produzioni che agiscono come fattori inibenti dell'innovazione e dell'ampliamento dei mercati. In particolare la scelta di perseguire una strategia di nicchia sul mercato locale è incentivata dal vantaggio competitivo di cui queste imprese godono sul mercato locale, grazie alla capacità di soddisfare specifiche esigenze dei consumatori locali. Inoltre la scarsa propensione a innovare è influenzata dal fatto che in questi settori non sempre l'innovazione accresce la competitività dell'impresa

Practical assessment of Biba integrity for TCG-enabled platforms

Checking the integrity of an application is necessary to determine if the latter will behave as expected. The method defined by the Trusted Computing Group consists in evaluating the fingerprints of the platform hardware and software components required for the proper functioning of the application to be assessed. However, this only ensures that a process was working correctly at load-time but not for its whole life-cycle. Policy-Reduced Integrity Measurement Architecture (PRIMA) addresses this problem by enforcing a security policy that denies information flows from potentially malicious processes to an application target of the evaluation and its dependencies (requirement introduced by CW-Lite, an evolution of the Biba integrity model). Given the difficulty of deploying PRIMA (as platform administrators have to tune their security policies to satisfy the CW-Lite requirements) we propose in this paper Enhanced IMA, an extended version of the Integrity Measurement Architecture (IMA) that, unlike PRIMA, works almost out of the box and just reports information flows instead of enforcing them. In addition, we introduce a model to evaluate the information reported by Enhanced IMA with existing technique

Catalogue of the spiders (Arachnida Araneae) of Sardinia

This catalogue summarizes and critically reviews araneological knowledge about Sardinian fauna. 140 publications from 1868 to 2012 were considered and about 4800 specimens belonging to 254 species were directly examined. The list report 495 species belonging to 229 genera divided into 43 families. For each species, literature, chorotype, regional distribution, and, where possible, habitats are indicated. Among the listed species Philodromus bosmansi Muster et Thaler, 2004 (Philodromidae) is new for Europe and the family of Prodidomidae with the species Zimirina brevipes P?rez et Blasco, 1986 is new for Italy. Also Setaphis parvula (Lucas, 1846) (Gnaphosidae), Centromerus succinus (Simon, 1884) and Hybocoptus corrugis (O. P.-Cambridge, 1875) (Linyphiidae) are new records for the Italian fauna and further 37 species are new for Sardinia. The genitalia of Phrurolithus corsicus (Simon, 1878), Zimirina brevipes, Drassodes luteomicans (Simon, 1878) and Zelotes dentatidens Simon, 1914 are illustrated

Exploiting the network for securing personal devices

Personal devices (such as smartphones and laptops) often experience incoherent levels of security due to the different protection applications available on the various devices. This paper presents a novel approach that consists in offloading security applications from personal devices and relocating them inside the network; this will be achieved by enriching network devices with the appropriate computational capabilities to execute generic security applications. This approach is fostered by the Secured project, which will define the architecture, data and protocols needed to turn this vision into reality

Influenza di alcuni fungicidi sullo sviluppo dei marciumi in frutti di fico d'India frigoconservati

Due to their juiciness and richness in sugars and low acidity, prickly pear fruit (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill.) are very susceptible to postharvest deterioration caused by pathogen micro-organisms. In addition, as most fruits of tropical and subtropical origin, they are subjected to chilling injury when exposed to low temperatures for long periods. The reduction of postharvest deterioration due to micro-organism invasion and severity of chilling injury represent therefore a priority for the Italian prickly pear industry. Objective of our trial was to verify the feasibility of some chemicals, either alone or in combination to control postharvest rot and to reduce chilling injury of prickly pear fruit in storage. Frutti di fico d'India della cultivar Gialla della prima fioritura, raccolti ad inizio Settembre, sono stati trattati per immersione con tiabendazolo, imazalil ed ortofenilfenato di sodio, secondo i seguenti trattamenti: 1 acqua, controllo; 2) 1.000 ppm di imazalil; 3) 1000 ppm di tiabendazolo; 4) 0,5% ortofenilfenato di sodio (pH 11,5-11,8); 5) 1.000 ppm di imazalil + 0,5% di ortofenilfenato di sodio; 6) 1000 ppm di tiabendazolo + 0,5% di ortofenilfenato di sodio. I frutti sono stati quindi trasferiti ad 8°C e 90% di umidità relativa(UR) e frigoconservati per 2 mesi a cui ha fatto seguito 1 settimana di shelf-life a 20°C e 75% di UR. Sia l'imazalil che il tiabendazolo utilizzati da soli sono stati molto efficaci nel contenere lo sviluppo dei marciumi e nel ridurre le fisiopatie da freddo durante tutto il periodo della prova. L'ortofenifenato sodico, sia da solo che in combinazione con il tiabendazolo o l'imazalil, è risultato fitotossico, ed il conseguente indebolimento dei tessuti ha favorito l'invasione microbica ed il decadimento qualitativo dei frutti. I parametri chimici non sono stati influenzati dai trattmenti, ma all'analisi gustativa i frutti trattati con l'ortofenifenato sodico, riportavano un punteggio più basso rispetto alle altre tesi principalmente per la presenza di "off-flavour"

Production procedures and mechanical behaviour of interlocking stabilized compressed earth blocks (ISCEBs) manufactured using float ram 1.0 press

This paper illustrates an innovative manufacturing procedure for producing handcrafted interlocking stabilized compressed earth blocks (ISCEBs). A comparison of the mechanical properties of ISCEBs is conducted to assess the influence of varying components. The ISCEBs are manufactured by employing different block densities with three distinct mixtures (earth, earth and lime, earth and straw) and by using a human-powered machine named Float RAM 1.0 Press. The manual press was conceived for regions with limited access to technology and allows the production of interlocking blocks via two modes of compaction: mono-directional and bi-directional. A production average of approximately 30 blocks/hour corresponding to the work of three people is achieved. Three-point bending tests and uniaxial compression tests are carried out to investigate the ISCEB mechanical behaviour. The improvements obtained by incorporating additives into the subset of ISCEBs made from a pure earth mixture are tested. The aim of this work is to identify, for this specific technology, the relationship between production parameters and the consequent behaviour of different stabilization methods. A correlation is found between the compaction force and the compression strength of ISCEBs. The addition of lime increases strength and causes the blocks to exhibit a brittle behaviour. Moreover, the incorporation of straw fibres improves the tensile strength and ductility without significantly affecting the compression strength of the blocks. Energy-based parameters are obtained for all the tests, allowing the assessment of the ISCEB mechanical and dissipation properties

Offloading security applications into the network

Users currently experience different levels of protection when accessing the Internet via their various personal devices and network connections, due to variable network security conditions and security applications available at each device. The SECURED project addresses these issues by designing an architecture to offload security applications from the end-user devices to a suitable trusted node in the network: the Network Edge Device (NED). Users populate a repository with their security applications and policy, which will then be fetched by the closest NED to protect the user’s traffic when he connects to a network. This setting provides uniform protection, independent of the actual user device and network location (e.g. public WiFi hotspot or 3G mobile connection). In other words, a user-centric approach is fostered by this architecture, opposed to the current device- or network-based security schema, with cost and protection benefits and simultaneously enabling new business models for service and network providers

Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase Gene Polymorphisms in Burkina Faso: Impact on Plasma Fasting Homocysteine and after Methionine Loading Test

SUMMARY In Burkina Faso the levels of plasma homocysteine (Hcy) are lower and the methionine loading tests suggest a more effective Hcy metabolism. The polymorphisms of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) showed a relevant difference in the allele frequencies of T MTHFR-677 in young and in old subjects, while the allele frequency of C MTHFR-1298C was comparable in young and old subjects. The aim of this paper was to study the impact of the MTHFR polymorphisms on plasma fasting Hcy and after methionine loading in Burkina Faso. The young subjects with CC MTHFR-677 genotype had levels of Hcy significantly lower than CT and TT subjects. The level of Hcy in subjects who had AA, AC and CC MTHFR-1298 genotypes were comparable. The levels of Hcy after the methionine loading test were significantly higher in CT and TT MTHFR-677 genotype. These results suggest that the genetic situation in Burkina Faso is different from that of other Western countries and this guarantees the maintenance of lower plasma levels of Hcy in young and old Africans. The elevated levels of plasma Hcy in old subjects compared to young subjects, against the low prevalence of the T allele in elderly subjects is discussed. (Clin. Lab. 2007;53:XXX-XXX) KEY WORDS Burkina Faso, homocysteine, methionine loading test, MTHFR, C677T, A1298

EDA2R Is Associated with Androgenetic Alopecia

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