Factors Affecting Participation of Italian Farmers in Rural Development Policy

In this paper a (micro)econometric approach is developed by considering the farmer likelihood to participate in different policy programs as linked to the objective of farmer to maximize their welfare. In this way we model farmers participation in policy support scheme by using a new institutional economics approach and conceptualizing the decision to entry as a contractual choice between two rural development types of policy. Different discrete choice modelling approaches are used to analyze the complementarity/ substitutability of different policy programs such as environmental-related measures and farm investment supports policy schemes and the main driving factors behind them. We use an extensive cross-sectional database related to the Italian FADN 2006. Results indicate that social capital and institutional factors should be taken much more into account in order to understand farmers likelihood to entry in policy support schemes. Location and farm(er) socio-economic features are also relevant factors. Moreover complementarity has been found between different policy schemes

Parameterized thermal macromodeling for fast and effective design of electronic components and systems

We present a parameterized macromodeling approach to perform fast and effective dynamic thermal simulations of electronic components and systems where key design parameters vary. A decomposition of the frequency-domain data samples of the thermal impedance matrix is proposed to improve the accuracy of the model and reduce the number of the computationally costly thermal simulations needed to build the macromodel. The methodology is successfully applied to analyze the impact of layout variations on the dynamic thermal behavior of a state-of-the-art 8-finger AlGaN/GaN HEMT grown on a SiC substrate

Time domain dynamic electrothermal macromodeling for thermally aware integrated system design

Time domain identification of reduced dynamic thermal models is pursued with well established macromodeling techniques, providing electrical equivalents to be integrated in standard circuit simulators. Self and mutual thermal impedances of electronic structures, preliminarily evaluated through accurate 3-D FEM thermal simulations, are directly identified with Time Domain Vector Fitting and synthesised in a lumped PSPICE circuit. Two relevant examples of dynamic electrothermal co-simulation are given, the results of which exhibit significant differences with respect to their isothermal counterpart

A GAN Approach for Anomaly Detection in Spacecraft Telemetries

In spacecraft health management a large number of time series is acquired and used for on-board units surveillance and for historical data analysis. The early detection of abnormal behaviors in telemetry data can prevent failures in the spacecraft equipment. In this paper we present an advanced monitoring system that was carried out in partnership with Thales Alenia Space Italia S.p.A, a leading industry in the field of spacecraft manufacturing. In particular, we developed an anomaly detection algorithm based on Generative Adversarial Networks, that thanks to their ability to model arbitrary distributions in high dimensional spaces, allow to capture complex anomalies avoiding the burden of hand crafted feature extraction. We applied this method to detect anomalies in telemetry data collected from a simulator of a Low Earth Orbit satellite. One of the strengths of the proposed approach is that it does not require any previous knowledge on the signal. This is particular useful in the context of anomaly detection where we do not have a model of the anomaly. Hence the only assumption we made is that an anomaly is a pattern that lives in a lower probability region of the data space

Information bias condemning radical food innovators? The case of insect-based products in the Netherlands

In this paper we analyze whether information bias is affecting consumers' WTP for radical food innovations. We collect data in the Netherlands on consumers' WTP for insect-based products. We used product attributes directly affected by information and EU legislation such as the visualization of insects on the products, the use of logo and health claims, different information treatments on positive environmental and social effects of eating insects as meat-substitutes. Results indicate that visualization negatively influenced consumers' WTP while information treatments do not mitigate this effect. We derive that EU legislators need to move fast in clarifying the status of insect-based foods

Different alterations of glomerular filtration rate and their association with uric acid in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes or with overweight/obesity

GFR alterations were different between youths with T1D and with OW/OB. Higher uric acid, older age, and puberty were related to lower GFR values in OW/OB children. Longitudinal studies will determine if low GFR is consequence of a rapid GFR decline in pediatric patients with OW/OB. Keywords: children; diabetes; hyperfiltration; obesity; renal disease; uric acid

Beta-band intermuscular coherence:A novel biomarker of upper motor neuron dysfunction in motor neuron disease

In motor neuron disease, the focus of therapy is to prevent or slow neuronal degeneration with neuroprotective pharmacological agents; early diagnosis and treatment are thus essential. Incorporation of needle electromyographic evidence of lower motor neuron degeneration into diagnostic criteria has undoubtedly advanced diagnosis, but even earlier diagnosis might be possible by including tests of subclinical upper motor neuron disease. We hypothesized that beta-band (15-30Hz) intermuscular coherence could be used as an electrophysiological marker of upper motor neuron integrity in such patients. We measured intermuscular coherence in eight patients who conformed to established diagnostic criteria for primary lateral sclerosis and six patients with progressive muscular atrophy, together with 16 age-matched controls. In the primary lateral sclerosis variant of motor neuron disease, there is selective destruction of motor cortical layer V pyramidal neurons and degeneration of the corticospinal tract, without involvement of anterior horn cells. In progressive muscular atrophy, there is selective degeneration of anterior horn cells but a normal corticospinal tract. All patients with primary lateral sclerosis had abnormal motor-evoked potentials as assessed using transcranial magnetic stimulation, whereas these were similar to controls in progressive muscular atrophy. Upper and lower limb intermuscular coherence was measured during a precision grip and an ankle dorsiflexion task, respectively. Significant beta-band coherence was observed in all control subjects and all patients with progressive muscular atrophy tested, but not in the patients with primary lateral sclerosis. We conclude that intermuscular coherence in the 15-30Hz range is dependent on an intact corticospinal tract but persists in the face of selective anterior horn cell destruction. Based on the distributions of coherence values measured from patients with primary lateral sclerosis and control subjects, we estimated the likelihood that a given measurement reflects corticospinal tract degeneration. Therefore, intermuscular coherence has potential as a quantitative test of subclinical upper motor neuron involvement in motor neuron disease