Modelling of the broad band emission of the AGN PG1553+113

openObiettivi. Il BL Lac PG 1553+113 è noto per la sua elevata variabilità e presenta un comportamento periodico con un ciclo di 2,2 anni, mostrando una significativa di 3 sigma nella sua emissione gamma alle energie Fermi. Questa periodicità è caratterizzata da uno stato di brillamento simultaneo a tutti i livelli di energia. Questa tesi si focalizza sulla relazione del brillamento del 2019 di PG 1553+113, analizzando dati multibanda e modellando l'emissione proveniente da questa fonte. Metodi. I dati provenienti da diversi strumenti, che spaziano dalla radio ai raggi gamma, sono stati analizzati con una specifica enfasi sulle energie più elevate, come ad esempio i telescopi MAGIC. Successivamente, l'emissione di PG 1553+113 è stata suddivisa in uno stato di brillamento (aprile 2019) e uno stato potenziato (giugno-agosto 2019) e quindi modellata utilizzando il software agnpy. Risultati e conclusioni. Durante questo progetto, sono stati applicati diversi modelli per analizzare questa sorgente. Inizialmente è stato utilizzato un modello Synchrotron-Self Compton (SSC) a una zona; tuttavia, le evidenze provenienti dagli studi di correlazione e dalla forma dell'emissione hanno suggerito una preferenza per un modello SSC a due zone. Il nuovo modello presenta una buona concordanza con l'insieme di dati e la sua applicazione a PG 1553+113 rappresenta un contributo innovativo in questo lavoro. I risultati del progetto rivelano una discrepanza tra i due stati, che può essere attribuita a variazioni nella densità di numero degli elettroni e nel campo magnetico delle rispettive zone.Aims. The BL Lac PG 1553+113 is known for its high variability and exhibits periodic behavior with a 2.2-year cycle, showing a significant 3-sigma significance in its Fermi gamma emission. This periodicity is characterized by a simultaneous flaring state at all energy levels. This thesis focuses on reporting the 2019 flare of PG 1553+113, analyzing multiwavelength data, and modeling the emission from this source. Methods. Data from multiple instruments, ranging from radio to gamma-rays, were analyzed with a specific emphasis on the highest energies, such as the MAGIC telescopes. Subsequently, the emission of PG 1553+113 was divided into a flaring state (April 2019) and enhanced state (June-August 2019) and then modeled using the agnpy software. Results and findings. During this project, multiple models were applied to analyze this source. Initially, a one-zone Synchrotron-Self Compton (SSC) model was utilized; however, evidence from correlation studies and the emission shape suggested a preference for a two-zone SSC model. The new model exhibits a good agreement with the dataset, and its application to PG 1553+113 represents a novel contribution in this work. The project's results reveal a discrepancy between the two states, which can be attributed to variations in the electron number density and magnetic field of the respective zones

Learning from Nature: Bioinspired Strategies Towards Antimicrobial Nanostructured Systems

Microbial contamination still remains a major issue of the modern era, due to the widespread of drug-resistant pathogens. This has prompted researchers to come up with novel antimicrobial systems that could overcome antibiotic-resistance. In this context, nature can provide inestimable source of inspiration to design high-performance multifunctional materials with potent activity against drug-resistant pathogens. Actually, integrating the bio-inspired-approach with nanotechnology can provide cutting-edge solutions for drug-resistant infections. In this context, this review will examine recent advances in the development of bio-inspired antimicrobial nanostructures. Advantages of bioinspired approach to nanomaterials over conventional routes have been highlighted. Generally, bionspired synthesis can be carried out either by mimicking the functions of natural materials/ structures or by mimicking the biological processes employed to produce substances or materials. The review provides an overview of both strategies as applied to the synthesis of inorganic, organic as well as hybrid nanostructures. Antimicrobial efficacy and biological properties of these systems have been highlighted. Antimicrobial and antibiofouling nanostructured surfaces are also discussed

EVALUATION OF SEISMIC DEMAND FOR EARTHQUAKE-TRIGGERED LANDSLIDES

Landslides are one of the most commonly observed territorial effects after a strong-motion seismic event. Although landslides are considered a secondary hazard to human lives, as compared with the safety of the buildings, they can cause significant damage to infrastructure networks that determine problems in the immediate post-earthquake during the emergency and reconstruction phases. Therefore it is important to calibrate reliable procedures for regional-scale assessment of seismic landslide susceptibility and hazard. The tools available for assessing regional-scale stability of slopes are empirically related to the earthquake intensity, yet they often provide poor useful information for practical purposes. The technical literature proposes several methods that allow for estimating slope performance under dynamic conditions or are able to evaluate effectively the parameters required for the procedures most commonly used in practice. This note briefly outlines the criteria for extending to the regional scale the procedures proposed by Tropeano et al. (2017) for assessing the site-specific performance of slopes during a strong-motion earthquake. A preliminary application is also shown for the main events of 2016 seismic sequence in Central Italy

Electrochemical incineration of organic pollutants: effect of the nature of the pollutants and of the temperature

The electrochemical oxidation of some organic pollutants, including three carboxylic acids (oxalic, formic and maleic), at boron doped diamond (BDD) and DSA anodes, using galvanostatic alimentation, was investigated in order to study the effect of the temperature and of the nature of the pollutants on the process. In incineration electrolyses, the performances of the process in terms of carboxylic acid conversion and current efficiency dramatically depend on the adopted operative conditions. The abatement of the organic pollutant depends on the nature of the carboxylic acid. Quite interestingly, the opposite effect of the nature of the substrate on the performances of the process was observed at BDD and DSA anodes

La valutazione della dirigenza nell'agenzia delle entrate: il sistema S.I.R.I.O.

2009 - 2010Le riforme degli anni ‘90 e il conseguente processo di cambiamento che ha interessato la pubblica amministrazione, hanno investito inevitabilmente anche il personale che vi opera all’interno. In particolare, l’introduzione dei decreti legislativi N.286/99 e N.165/01, testimoniano che non si può prescindere dalla valutazione dell’operato dei dirigenti durante la verifica del perseguimento della mission di una pubblica amministrazione. Prima di procedere con delle valutazioni di merito, risulta però indispensabile individuare l’ambiente in cui la P.A. esercita le proprie scelte strategiche. In generale nelle aziende, la relazione fra strategia e gestione delle risorse umane può essere analizzata e costruita attraverso tre approcci: quello lineare, quello evolutivo e l’interdipendente(1). Nel primo, la scelta del cosa produrre, è tradizionalmente una competenza della strategia, e quella del come produrre, è invece una competenza dell’organizzazione. All’interno di essa, una volta definita la strategia da parte della coalizione di comando, sarà costruita la struttura più adatta a implementarla e verranno inserite le risorse umane necessarie. La relazione lineare funziona in ambienti stabili, ma manifesta tutti i suoi limiti in situazioni turbolente e complesse. L’approccio evolutivo invece, rappresenta un’organizzazione che apprende e si trasforma attraverso una pluralità di soggetti che interagiscono con i cambiamenti ambientali. Nell’approccio interdipendente, siamo in presenza di un’azienda in cui le conoscenze e il potere decisionale non sono concentrati in un’unica persona; qui la struttura si conforma alla strategia, che a sua volta viene da quest’ultima influenzata. La strategia di domani sarà il prodotto dell’attuale struttura e delle persone che hanno recepito e rielaborato gli stimoli provenienti dall’ambiente. Nell’approccio interdipendente la libertà di colui che decide viene in qualche modo delimitata dalle interdipendenze che di norma subisce, e solo di rado gestisce. E’ proprio in questo l’ambiente che la P.A. italiana si identifica e sviluppa gli strumenti funzionali alle proprie valutazioni. Dopo questa doverosa premessa, passiamo a definire i termini della nostra analisi. All’interno dell’Agenzia delle Entrate, la suddetta valutazione della dirigenza, si esplica attraverso il sistema di valutazione denominato S.I.R.I.O. “Sistema integrato di valutazione dei risultati, indicatori ed obiettivi”. Introdotto nell’Agenzia nel 2002 per determinare la performance dei dirigenti, il sistema contribuisce al perseguimento degli obiettivi voluti con l’introduzione del modello di “Amministrazione per Agenzie”, essenzialmente basato sulla separazione dei compiti di elaborazione delle politiche di indirizzo sul monitoraggio e sulla vigilanza, attribuite al Ministro dell’Economia, dalle responsabilità gestionali devolute invece alle agenzie fiscali; in modo da poter verificare la convergenza tra i comportamenti dei dirigenti e gli obiettivi ministeriali. Nel presente lavoro, partendo dalle evidenti criticità del modello burocratico che hanno portato alle novità introdotte dal New Public Management, si individuano i vantaggi dell’introduzione di un sistema di valutazione legato al raggiungimento dei risultati, piuttosto che al mero rispetto delle procedure. Dopo una necessaria panoramica sugli aspetti del D.Lgs. N.286/99, del D.Lgs. N.165/01 e della c.d. Riforma Brunetta(D.Lgs. N.150/2009), che hanno modificato radicalmente lo scenario della P.A. italiana ed in particolare l’ambito della valutazione della dirigenza, si procede all’analisi delle motivazioni che hanno determinato la necessità, nell’ambito della valutazione delle performance dei dirigenti dell’Agenzia delle Entrate, di passare dal metodo SI.VA.D. utilizzato precedentemente, al metodo S.I.R.I.O.. Successivamente si procede allo studio dei singoli aspetti che lo caratterizzano, verificando la convergenza delle procedure utilizzate per valutare i dirigenti con gli obiettivi prefissati che ne hanno motivato l’introduzione. A tal riguardo si analizzano i dati riguardanti la valutazione di 80 dirigenti scelti tra i circa 1300 operanti nell’Agenzia delle Entrate al fine di verificare i progressi avuti tra il 2000 e il 2008, progressi a cui ha contribuito in maniera importante, l’aver utilizzato efficaci strumenti di valutazione delle performance. (1) Cfr. Costa. G., Giannecchini M., 2005. Risorse umane persone, relazioni e valore. Mc Graw-Hill, Milano. [a cura dell'autore]IX n.s

Novel Approaches of Generating and Selecting High Genetic Merit In Vitro Produced Pig and Cattle Embryos

In vitro production (IVP) in agricultural species such as pigs and cattle is performed in a similar manner to human IVF, and involves ovum pick up or oocyte maturation, fertilization outside the body and subsequent transfer of viable embryos. Its application in agricultural breeding can significantly speed up genetic gain rates by reducing generational intervals, increasing selection intensity, and facilitating the dissemination of valuable genetics. IVP is an increasingly important tool for breeding companies given the ongoing emphasis on feeding a growing population with fewer resources. With the above in mind, the aim of this work was to improve the yield of competent, euploid, and high genetic merit IVP embryos available for transfer. Oocytes destined for IVP are commonly assessed for developmental competence by morphological screening. To determine whether it would be possible to improve the utilisation of oocytes per donor, the developmental competence of porcine oocytes with decreasing cumulus oocyte complex (COC) investment was examined. It was found that current IVP practice is wasteful, through the elimination of oocytes with slightly impaired morphology, which still have remarkable developmental potentials. Moreover, whilst it is accepted that embryo splitting (generating more than one embryo from a single fertilized zygote) could benefit the breeding industry by increasing the offspring of the most desirable parents, a comparative analysis of the different splitting methodologies available, including stage of the split and single versus serial splitting strategies, is currently missing in the literature. Here, the splitting of an 8-cell stage embryo into four identical twins was identified as the strategy producing the greatest output of good quality embryos. Additionally, time-lapse investigation of the embryo splits found evidence of the existence of a developmental clock that tightly regulates early cleavage events. Normally, only embryos that display satisfactory morphology are selected for transfer. However, in cattle and pigs, this assessment is complicated by the accumulation of lipid droplets within the embryo, which renders it opaque. Consequently, there is scope for the application of new imaging modalities, such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), which are able to image an embryo in full depth and non-invasively. In this work, swept source OCT was successfully tested for use in early stage bovine embryos to obtain both structural and functional imaging. Moreover, micron-scale movements were measured within blastocysts by OCT as a way to rapidly discriminate between living and deceased embryos, representing a novel application of this methodology. Embryo biopsies can be used to establish the genetic merit of an embryo through single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis, allowing the application of genomic selection soon after fertilisation rather than at birth. Moreover, SNP information can be analysed by karyomapping to select the most chromosomally normal embryos for transfer. Here, the birth of the first five karyomapped calves in the world is reported. Additionally, karyomapping was used to measure the incidence of aneuploidy in bovine blastocysts by parent of origin and to determine the recombination frequency for each chromosome, demonstrating the applicability of this methodology to basic research

Stima della distanza di blazar con i raggi gamma

gli AGN sono delle strutture caratterizzate da un buco nero supermssivo ed il 10% degli AGN presenta un getto. In questa tesi si sono evidenziati gli effetti del fondo EBL sullo spettro differenziale di tre sorgenti: MKN 421, 1ES 1218+304 e PKS 1441+25. Si è visto come da tale assorbimento si può ottenere un metodo per trovare un limite superiore alla distanza di una sorgente ed anche una stima al redshift. abstract (english) : AGNs are a type of structure that is caracterized by a central supermassive black hole and roughly 10% of all AGNs emit a jet. The main goal of this work is to analize the effects of EBL on differential spectra of three sources: MKN 421, 1ES 1218+304, PKS 1441+25, concentrating on the middle one. Furthermore I've used a method to derive the upper limit on the distance of a soruce and then an estimation of the redshift. parole chiave (italian): blazar, AGN, EBL, raggi gamma.ope

Recent Advances in Endocrine Disrupting Compounds Degradation through Metal Oxide-Based Nanomaterials

Endocrine Disrupting Compounds (EDCs) comprise a class of natural or synthetic molecules and groups of substances which are considered as emerging contaminants due to their toxicity and danger for the ecosystems, including human health. Nowadays, the presence of EDCs in water and wastewater has become a global problem, which is challenging the scientific community to address the development and application of effective strategies for their removal from the environment. Particularly, catalytic and photocatalytic degradation processes employing nanostructured materials based on metal oxides, mainly acting through the generation of reactive oxygen species, are widely explored to eradicate EDCs from water. In this review, we report the recent advances described by the major publications in recent years and focused on the degradation processes of several classes of EDCs, such as plastic components and additives, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products, which were realized by using novel metal oxide-based nanomaterials. A variety of doped, hybrid, composite and heterostructured semiconductors were reported, whose performances are influenced by their chemical, structural as well as morphological features. Along with photocatalysis, alternative heterogeneous advanced oxidation processes are in development, and their combination may be a promising way toward industrial scale application

Economics research and climate change. A Scopus-based bibliometric investigation

This paper investigates the evolution over time of the economics literature devoted to climate change. The analysis is based on 1974-2021 data extracted from the Scopus database and focuses on the publication outlets included in the first quartile of the “Economics, Econometric, and Finance” SCImago Ranking. We inspect the size and the impact of this economics literature, the geographical pattern of its production, and we provide a content analysis based on the keywords associated with the documents analysed. This study provides a detailed overview of the (still limited) interest that economists demonstrate for climate change

Exploring Networking of Third Sector Organizations: A Case Study Based on the Quartieri Spagnoli Neighbourhood in Naples (Italy)

In the last decades, European Third Sector Organizations have been increasingly affected by marketization and the reduction of public resources for social services, hence pushed to develop new strategies to accomplish their social mission while remaining economically efficient. The existing literature suggests that the activation of networking activities can be a strategy to overcome these problems. By using a partially mixed-methods approach, this study investigates factors that stimulate the TSOs’ networking and attitudes toward different types of informal and formal networks. Our results suggest that TSOs try to cope with contextual challenges by activating both formal and informal networks, depending on financial and structural opportunities, but also suggest that the rationalities moving TSOs are highly heterogeneous