Self-adjoint elliptic operators with boundary conditions on not closed hypersurfaces

The abstract theory of self-adjoint extensions of symmetric operators is used to construct self-adjoint realizations of a second-order elliptic operator on $\mathbb{R}^{n}$ with linear boundary conditions on (a relatively open part of) a compact hypersurface. Our approach allows to obtain Krein-like resolvent formulas where the reference operator coincides with the "free" operator with domain $H^{2}(\mathbb{R}^{n})$; this provides an useful tool for the scattering problem from a hypersurface. Concrete examples of this construction are developed in connection with the standard boundary conditions, Dirichlet, Neumann, Robin, $\delta$ and $\delta^{\prime}$-type, assigned either on a $n-1$ dimensional compact boundary $\Gamma=\partial\Omega$ or on a relatively open part $\Sigma\subset\Gamma$. Schatten-von Neumann estimates for the difference of the powers of resolvents of the free and the perturbed operators are also proven; these give existence and completeness of the wave operators of the associated scattering systems.Comment: Final revised version, to appear in Journal of Differential Equation

A REFLECTION ON THE PROBLEMS OF EVALUATING THE COEXISTENCE BALANCE BETWEEN SHORT AND LONG CHAIN IN THE AGRI-FOOD MARKET: SOME IMPACT INDICATORS

The contribution made by this article is fundamentally to stimulate international debate on a subject that is not discussed sufficiently, or at least not in the terms indicated here, namely not the debate on the short or long chain efficiency and on the relative convenience of each, but the debate on how to establish research to identify what, in different contexts and globally, may be an excellent balance between short and long chain. How they can best divide the market shares up between them, considering the fact that all possible changes to this “balance of coexistence” on a sub-system level of the local market has an effect some distance away on the global system of markets. This research highlights the complex problems of assessing the optimal coexistence balance (in social wellbeing terms) of long chain and short chain in the food product market on a local and global territorial scale; the evaluation route of a hypothesised procedure to assess this coexistence ratio; the need of constructing suitable food market simulation models designed specifically to identify the above mentioned optimal coexistence balance; the difficulties of constructing these models and the present state of art on market simulation models; the analysis of the environmental, economic, and social impacts of short chain versus long chain in there many facets and related indicators and subindicators to evaluate them within simulation models; the interpretative capacity of these tangible and intagible indicators and the various modes (quantitative, proxy, qualitative data) through which they can measure/assess impacts

LONG AND SHORT SUPPLY CHAIN COEXISTENCE IN THE AGRICULTURAL FOOD MARKET ON DIFFERENT SCALES: OLIGOPOLIES, LOCAL ECONOMIES AND THE DEGREE OF LIBERALISATION OF THE GLOBAL MARKET

This paper is intended as an approach to the complex matter of the co-existence of long and short chains. It introduces a stimulus to further study these questions more thoroughly, which current market situations lead us to believe will be an interesting field, and one well worthy of consideration. It proposes analysing the advantages and weaknesses of the long and short chain in various different settings and environments. The ultimate aim is to help identify a better combination in the set-up of outlet methods into the agricultural-food markets. The study performed higlights: The effects of the increasing power of largescale retail distribution, hypotesis of future scenarios and the balancerestoring function of the short chain; SWOT analysis of the short supply chain with reference to MEDCs and LEDCs contexts; Connections between short supply chain, self-centred development and protectionism; The nonantagonistic relationship between long and short chain within the districts. The results of the analysis, showing the various, severe repercussions of the individual market’s action on the whole of the agricultural production economy and consumer well-being, highlight the trade-off, at times dramatic, between the various choices of economic and commercial policy. In thus doing, this work remarks the need for new studies aiming to assess the environments of greater relative convenience, those where there may be an overlay, juxtaposition and opposition of the long and short chain, in order to identify optimal coexistence equilibrium in the various contexts, on a local and, overall, global scale, between the two methods of sale on the agricultural food markets system

A REFLECTION ON THE PROBLEMS OF EVALUATING THE COEXISTENCE BALANCE BETWEEN SHORT AND LONG CHAIN IN THE AGRI-FOOD MARKET: SOME IMPACT INDICATORS

The contribution made by this article is fundamentally to stimulate international debate on a subject that is not discussed sufficiently, or at least not in the terms indicated here, namely not the debate on the short or long chain efficiency and on the relative convenience of each, but the debate on how to establish research to identify what, in different contexts and globally, may be an excellent balance between short and long chain. How they can best divide the market shares up between them, considering the fact that all possible changes to this “balance of coexistence” on a sub-system level of the local market has an effect some distance away on the global system of markets. This research highlights the complex problems of assessing the optimal coexistence balance (in social wellbeing terms) of long chain and short chain in the food product market on a local and global territorial scale; the evaluation route of a hypothesised procedure to assess this coexistence ratio; the need of constructing suitable food market simulation models designed specifically to identify the above mentioned optimal coexistence balance; the difficulties of constructing these models and the present state of art on market simulation models; the analysis of the environmental, economic, and social impacts of short chain versus long chain in there many facets and related indicators and subindicators to evaluate them within simulation models; the interpretative capacity of these tangible and intagible indicators and the various modes (quantitative, proxy, qualitative data) through which they can measure/assess impacts

Christianity & journalism: perspectives from photojournalists of color

Professional project report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Journalism from the School of Journalism, University of Missouri--Columbia.This master's professional project examines the role of Christian faith in the area of photojournalism. In order to understand the relation of faith in ones professional work, the analysis portion of this project explores whether faith directly impacts the way in which photojournalists make photographs or choose stories based on spiritual or religious convictions. In this study, I seek to answer: How often and to what extent do self-identifying Christian journalists feel their values affect the stories they decide to report? This body of work gathers interviews from seven professional photojournalists, six of whom are self-identifying Christian photojournalists of color. My findings reveal that most Christian identifying photojournalists do not believe their faith directly impact the way in which they make photographs. However, for some, faith did impact their photo editing process and for others, faith posed challenges in photographing stories that remained controversial in relation to Christian religious teaching. The following results are useful to the study of photojournalism as it is a particularly specific topic with limited literature discussing the topic of how faith impacts photojournalism. In addition, the analysis gives perspectives from photojournalists of color whose voices are often underrepresented in today's media and academic research

Compliance with key practices of root canal treatment varies by the reward system applied in public dental services

Introduction: To assess clinical practices in root canal treatments (RCTs) performed by general dental practitioners under 2 different reward schemes applied in public dental services. Methods: This study used a retrospective design with tooth as the observation unit. The data included all teeth (n = 547) with nonsurgical primary RCT completed in 2016. Electronic documents included treatment details and radiographs. RCT assessment covered 4 key items: taking pre- and postoperative radiographs, using a rubber dam, measuring working length. Assessed dichotomies indicated whether practices were adequate. Dentists' reward schemes were "salaried" and "fee-for-service." Chi squared tests analyzed frequency differences. Results: RCTs formed 2 groups by the reward scheme: 305 RCTs were performed by salaried dentists and 242 by fee-for-service dentists. Preoperative radiographs were diagnosable for 76.1% and postoperative radiographs, for 95.1% of all RCTs. Rubber dam use was documented for 28.9% of the RCTs, more frequently when performed by salaried than by fee-for-service dentists (43.9% vs 9.9%, P < .001). Working length measurement was documented for 72.9% of the RCTs, more frequently for RCTs performed by salaried than by fee-for-service dentists (85.2% vs 57.4%, P < .001). All 4 key items were assessed as adequate in 19.0% of all RCTs, more frequently when performed by salaried than by fee-for-service dentists (29.5% vs 5.8%, P < .001). Conclusions: Deficiencies in RCTs, particularly underuse of rubber dams call for further research to understand the reasons for noncompliance with good clinical practice guidelines.Peer reviewe

Consumer attitudes towards sustainability attributes on food labels

With current concerns about climate change and the general status of the environment, there is an increasing expectation that products have sustainability credentials, and that these can be verified. Labelling is a common method of communicating certain product attributes to consumers that may influence their choices. There are different types of labels with several functions. The aim of this study is to investigate consumers‟ purchase decisions towards certain sustainability claims on food products, particularly by displaying the reduction of carbon emissions. Choice outcomes will be evaluated using Discrete Choice Modelling (DCM). Data for the study is obtained by a web-based consumer survey undertaken in the United Kingdom (UK). Results provide information on different attributes effects on consumers‟ purchase decisions, particularly their willingness to pay. This study provides information on consumers‟ attitudes that will assist industries and firms to benefit from market opportunities, in particular assessing the methods by which carbon footprinting measures can be incorporated alongside information on other sustainability criteria in product marketing.food labeling, carbon footprint, discrete choice modeling, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy,

Towards Vehicle-Level Simulator Aided Failure Mode, Effect, and Diagnostic Analysis of Automotive Power Electronics Items

The increasing demand for Electronic Control Units able to perform safety-relevant tasks leads the automotive industry to find novel verification methodologies, capable to decrease the time-to-market and, at the same time, to improve the quality of the assessment. The ISO26262:2018 automotive functional safety standard requires to follow a strict development process, compliant with its “safety lifecycle”. It includes all the phases of the item life, from the concept to the decommissioning. The phase that places most difficulties about its objectivity and repeatability is the hardware/software integration verification since, usually, the software is in charge to mitigate the effects of some possible hardware failures. This paper proposes a novel technique, based on a simulation-based approach, to aid the designers during the Failure Mode, Effect, and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA). We consider a power electronics module, to be embedded into electric vehicles powertrains, as a challenging practical example. We performed some tests on it, considering a rear traction car with two independent electric motors, one per each wheel. This system, to allow the vehicle to curve, has to act like a differential gear. Hence, it has a strong safety impact on the driveability of the car. All the involved components have been simulated propagating their behaviours up to the entire vehicle. Due the strong coupling between item failures and vehicle dynamics, a structured way based on coupling fault injection with vehicle dynamic simulation is desirable

Consumer Attitudes towards Sustainability Attributes on Food Labels

Concerns about climate change and the general status of the environment have increased expectation that food products have sustainability credentials, and that these can be verified. There are significant and increasing pressures in key export markets for information on Greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of products throughout its life-cycle. How this information is conveyed to consumers is a key issue. Labelling is a common method of communicating certain product attributes to consumers that may influence their choices. In a choice experiment concerning fruit purchase decisions, this study estimates willingness to pay for sustainability attributes by consumers in Japan and the UK. The role of label presentation format is investigated: text only, text and graphical, and graphical only. Results indicate that sustainability attributes influence consumers’ fruit purchase decisions. Reduction of carbon in fruit production is shown to be the least valued out of sustainability attributes considered. Differences are evident between presentation formats and between countries, with increased nutrient content being the most sensitive to format and country while carbon reduction is the most insensitive and almost always valued the least.Willingness to pay, Choice experiment, Food labelling, Sustainability, Cross-country comparison, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q18, Q51, Q56,

Male brain type women and female brain type men : Gender atypical cognitive profiles and their correlates

Gender differences exist in abilities, interests, and occupations. According to the Empathizing-Systemizing theory, the reason for all gender differences lies in the relative weights of two cognitive processes: women empathize more, which is useful in understanding people, while men systemize more, which means interpreting phenomena as rule-based systems. The terms "male and female brain type" refer to a heightened preference for one process over the other. We aimed to find out whether the gender atypical groups of male brain type women and female brain type men are more similar to the opposite sex than to their own in terms of a range of social, cognitive and personality variables. Female and male brain type groups were identified and compared within both genders in an online study (N = 2983). The results show there are female brain type men and male brain type women, who are characterized by qualities more often associated with the opposite sex, and who have not been reached by prior research. Thus, these findings demonstrate that cognitive type is a more powerful predictor of certain characteristics than is biological sex.Peer reviewe