Elementi distintivi della piccola e media impresa familiare nella dinamica del passaggio generazionale.Caso Zac S.r.l.

L’obiettivo da cui muove tale lavoro di ricerca è quello di costruire un modello teorico di rifermento in relazione alle dinamiche del passaggio generazionale nelle aziende familiari. Successivamente, ribaltando le nozioni teoriche sull'analisi dell’azienda presa in esame, si è cercato di individuare le possibili direttrici del passaggio generazionale soprattutto per ciò che concerne la capacità dell’erede di esercitare un giusto equilibrio tra le conoscenze tradizionali e quelle innovative. Inoltre, si cerca di esaminare la possibile direzione di cambiamento a cui può condurre il successore e se questa possa apportare delle migliorie al sistema aziendale

Controlled functionalization of sp2 carbon allotropes for the reinforcement of diene elastomers

To achieve important mechanical properties, natural and synthetic rubbers need reinforcing fillers. sp2 carbon allotropes are indeed relevant reinforcing fillers for rubber compounds. Carbon black has been used for over a century and nanofillers such as graphene, graphene related materials and carbon nanotubes are dramatically increasing their importance. Ultimate distribution and dispersion of the carbon fillers in the rubber compounds has to be obtained. To achieve this goal, carbon allotropes should be used as such or should they be functionalized? In this work, controlled functionalization of sp2 carbon allotropes was performed. In particular, the aim was to introduce, on carbon allotropes, oxygenated functional groups, without altering the graphitic structure of the substrate. Methods developed are presented. They were based on reaction of carbon materials with hydrogen peroxide, potassium hydroxide and a derivative of 2-amino-1,3- propandiol, better known as serinol. All the reactions were inspired to the basic principle of sustainable chemistry, with the aim to avoid the use of solvents and catalysts. Research performed with the serinol derivative is in particular discussed. The Paal-Knorr reaction of serinol with 2,5-hexanedione was performed, obtaining 2- (2,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrrol-1-yl)-1,3-propanediol, named as serinolpyrrole (SP). The aromatic ring in SP was exploited to form stable adducts with the carbon allotropes. Hypothesis on the mechanism for the adduct formation is presented. Rubber compounds, based either only on carbon black or on carbon black and silica as the filler systems, were prepared and sulphur-based crosslinking behavior and dynamic-mechanical properties were investigated

Influence of Myeloperoxidase Levels on Periodontal Disease: An Applied Clinical Study

In this trial, we evaluated the influence on plasma and salivary myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels of periodontal health, coronary heart disease (CHD), periodontitis, or both periodontitis and CHD. Clinical and periodontal parameters were collected from periodontitis patients (n = 31), CHD patients (n = 31), patients with both periodontitis and CHD (n = 31), and from healthy patients (n = 31) together with saliva and plasma samples. The median concentrations of salivary and plasma MPO were statistically higher in the CHD patients [plasma: 26.2 (18.2–34.4) ng/mg; saliva 83.2 (77.4–101.5) ng/mL, p < 0.01] and in the periodontitis plus CHD patients [plasma: 27.8 (22.5–35.7) ng/mg; saliva 85.6 (76.5–106.7) ng/mL, p < 0.001] with respect to periodontitis and control patients. Through a univariate regression analysis, c-reactive protein (CRP) and CHD (both p < 0.001) and periodontitis (p = 0.024) were statistically correlated with MPO in plasma. The multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that only CRP was statistically the predictor of MPO in plasma (p < 0.001). The multivariate regression analysis in saliva demonstrated that, regarding MPO levels the only predictors were CRP (p < 0.001) and total cholesterol (p = 0.035). The present study evidenced that subjects with CHD and periodontitis plus CHD had higher plasma and salivary levels of MPO compared to subjects with periodontitis and healthy controls

Photorealistic True-Dimensional Visualization of Remote Panoramic Views for VR Headsets

© 2023 IEEE. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. For more information, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Virtual Reality headsets have evolved to include unprecedented display quality. Meantime, they have become light-weight, wireless and low-cost, which has opened to new applications and a much wider audience. Photo-based omnidirectional imaging has also developed, becoming directly exploitable for VR, with their combination proven suitable for: remote visits and realistic scene reconstruction, operator’s training and control panels, surveillance and e-tourism. There is however a limited amount of scientific work assessing VR experience and user’s performance in photo-based environment representations. This paper focuses on assessing the effect of photographic realism in VR when observing real places through a VR headset, for two different pixel-densities of the display, environment types and familiarity levels. Our comparison relies on the observation of static three-dimensional and omnidirectional photorealistic views of environments. The aim is to gain an insight about how photographic texture can affect perceived realness, sense of presence and provoked emotions, as well as perception of image-lighting and actual space dimension (true-dimension). Two user studies are conducted based on subjective rating and measurements given by users to a number of display and human factors. The display pixel-density affected the perceived image-lighting and prevailed over better lighting specs. The environment illumination and distance to objects generally played a stronger role than display. The environment affected the perceived image-lighting, spatial presence, depth impression and specific emotions. Distances to a set of objects were generally accurately estimated. Place familiarity enhanced perceived realism and presence. They confirmed some previous studies, but also introduced new elements.Peer reviewe

A multi-source dataset of urban life in the city of Milan and the Province of Trentino

The study of socio-technical systems has been revolutionized by the unprecedented amount of digital records that are constantly being produced by human activities such as accessing Internet services, using mobile devices, and consuming energy and knowledge. In this paper, we describe the richest open multi-source dataset ever released on two geographical areas. The dataset is composed of telecommunications, weather, news, social networks and electricity data from the city of Milan and the Province of Trentino. The unique multi-source composition of the dataset makes it an ideal testbed for methodologies and approaches aimed at tackling a wide range of problems including energy consumption, mobility planning, tourist and migrant flows, urban structures and interactions, event detection, urban well-being and many others

Beneficial Effects of Silybin Treatment After Viral Eradication in Patients With HCV-Related Advanced Chronic Liver Disease: A Pilot Study

Introduction and Aims: HCV eradication by direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) improves liver outcomes and reduces overall liver mortality. However, patients with advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) may experience a progression of liver disease despite viral clearance. Silybin has shown hepatoprotective effects in experimental models, but clinical data are limited. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a highly bioavailable form of silybin on liver fibrosis in patients with HCV-related ACLD after viral eradication with DAAs, in comparison with the standard of care. Methods: In this multicenter and prospective study, HCV patients with ACLD achieving SVR12 were treated with the combination of silybinphospholipid complex with vitamin D and vitamin E (Realsil 100D(®), Ibi Lorenzini S.p.A., Aprilia, Italy) for 12 months (R group) compared to controls (C group). Patients were submitted to transient elastography (TE) and to the enhanced liver fibrosis (ELF) test at baseline, week 24, and week 48. Results: One hundred sixteen patients were enrolled, 56 in the R group and 60 in the C group. The median age was 68 years, and 53% were male, with no differences between groups. In both groups, liver stiffness improved at 6 and 12 months compared to baseline. However, patients in the R group compared to those in the C group showed a higher reduction of liver stiffness after 6 months (−2.05, 95% CI −3.89 to −0.22, p < 0.05) and 12 months of treatment (−2.79, 95% CI −4.5 to −1.09, p < 0.01) in comparison with baseline. No significant difference in the reduction of ELF was observed between the two groups. During the follow-up, four patients developed HCC, all in the C group. Conclusions: In HCV-related ACLD, the hepatoprotective effects of silybin may represent a tool to counteract liver disease progression

Ray optics hamiltonian approach to relativistic self focusing of ultraintense lasers in underdense plasmas

The relativistic self focusing of an ultraintense laser propagating through an underdense plasma is analyzed from a geometrical optics point of view, exploiting the classical hamiltonian formalism. The distribution of the laser intensity along the self-generated plasma channel is studied and compared to measurements

Effect of Ethyl Ester L-Lysine Triisocyanate addition to produce reactive PLA/PCL bio-polyester blends for biomedical applications

This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials and the definitive published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2017.02.018We report in this paper the effects of Ethyl Ester L-Lysine Triisocyanate (LTI) on the physical-mechanical properties of Poly(lactide)/Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PLA/PCL) polyesters blends. The PLA/PCL ratios considered were 20/80, 50/50 and 80/20 (wt/wt %) and LTI was added in amounts of 0.0-0.5-1.0 phr. PLA and PCL reacted with LTI during processing in a Brabender twin screw internal mixer to produce block copolymers in-situ. The resulting blends have been characterized by torque measurements, uniaxial tensile tests, Differential Scanning Calorimeter, contact angle measurements with a Phosphate Buffered Saline (PBS) solution, ATR analysis and morphological SEM observations. Experimental results highlighted how LTI enhanced interaction and dispersion of the two components, resulting into a synergic effect in mechanical properties. Mechanical and physical properties can be tailored by changing the blend composition. The most noticeable trend was an increase in ductility of the mixed polymers. Besides, LTI decreased blend’s wet ability in PBS and lowered the starting of crystalline phase formation for both polymers, confirming an interaction among them. These reactive blends could find use as biomedical materials, e.g. absorbable suture threads or scaffolds for cellular growth