From Right to Good, and to Asset: the State-led Financialisation of the Social Rented Housing in Italy

Rental housing has been regarded as the new ‘frontier for financialisation’ since the 2007 financial crisis. But research examining financialisation of de-commodified rental housing is limited and is primarily focused on stock acquisitions by financial investors and the enabling role of either national or local governments. This critically overlooks the emergence of the financialised production of social rented housing, the interplay between levels of government (particularly with the regional level), and the leading role of the state in these processes. By combining a political sociology approach to policy instruments with a housing system studies perspective, the paper investigates how Italy, through the interplay between national, regional (Lombardy) and local (Milan) governments, led the financialisation of its social rented housing production. Through analyses of six decades of financial-legislative changes in the housing system regarding production/provision, finance and land supply, it identifies a three-stage journey towards financialisation: (1) the rise and fall of publicly-owned rental social housing (1950s to 1990s); (2) the regionalisation and marketisation of the sector up to the late 2000s; and (3) the upward transfer from the first local-scale experiment with the real estate mutual investment fund in Milan to the creation of a national-scale System of Funds for the production of social rented housing. The study shows that the re-commodification of housing and land initiated in the 1980s were intertwined and a conditio-sine-qua-non for financialisation; that the state played a crafting—rather than solely enabling—role in this process; and that trans-scalar legislative–financial innovations transformed social rented housing into a liquid asset class

An efficient all-optical switch using a lambda atom in a cavity QED system

We propose an all-optical switch constructed from a two-mode optical resonator containing a strongly coupled, three-state system. The coupling allows a weak, continuous wave laser drive to incoherently control the transmission of a much stronger, continuous wave signal laser into (and through) the resonator. We demonstrate that in this simple setup the presence of a control drive with one tenth the power of the signal drive can induce near complete reflection of the signal, while its absence allows for near complete transmission. The switch can also be operated as a set-reset relay with two control inputs that efficiently drive the switch into either the reflecting or the transmitting state.Comment: 9 pages, 10 figures, v2: published versio

Probing the Evaporation Dynamics of Ethanol/Gasoline Biofuel Blends Using Single Droplet Manipulation Techniques

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Not All Children with Under-Control Asthma are Controlled

Subclinical lung function alterations can sometimes be discovered in asthmatic patients under clinical control. This study aimed to identify the burden of asthmatic children with subclinical airways abnormalities who may benefit from an adjustment in asthma therapy. 134 6-to-17-year-old asthmatic children were enrolled. Of them, 98 presented apparently under clinical control disease and all performed spirometry before and after bronchodilation: 17 (17.3%) had a positive bronchodilation test, in addition to significantly lower lung function indexes as compared to those with under-control asthma who had a negative bronchodilation test. These patients were randomized and re-evaluated: patients (n=8) receiving an adjustment in their therapy showed an improvement in lung function tests and quality of life indexes as compared to 7 without therapy adjustment. In conclusion, a substantial number of apparently-under-control asthmatic children show airways alterations that can be improved by adjusting their therapy, which also seems to enhance their quality of life

A Lithium Experiment in the Program of Solar Neutrino Research

The experiments sensitive to pp-neutrinos from the Sun are very perspective for the precise measurement of a mixing angle $\theta_{12}$. A $\nu$e$^{-}$ scattering experiment (Xmass) and/or a charged-current experiment (the indium detector) can measure the flux of electron pp-neutrinos. One can find the total flux of pp-neutrinos from a luminosity constraint after the contribution of $^7$Be and CNO neutrinos to the total luminosity of the Sun are measured. The radiochemical experiment utilizing a lithium target has the high sensitivity to the CNO neutrinos, thus, it has a good promise for the precise measurement of a mixing angle and for the test of a current theory of the evolution of the stars.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, A report made by A.Kopylov at International Conference NANP-2005, June 2005, Dubna, Russi

Provisioning virtual private networks under traffic uncertainty

We investigate a network design problem under traffic uncertainty that arises when provisioning Virtual Private Networks (VPNs): given a set of terminals that must communicate with one another, and a set of possible traffic matrices, sufficient capacity has to be reserved on the links of the large underlying public network to support all possible traffic matrices while minimizing the total reservation cost. The problem admits several versions depending on the desired topology of the reserved links, and the nature of the traffic data uncertainty. We present compact linear mixed-integer programming formulations for the problem with the classical hose traffic model and for a less conservative robust variant relying on the traffic statistics that are often available. These flow-based formulations allow us to solve optimally medium-to-large instances with commercial MIP solvers. We also propose a combined branch-and-price and cutting-plane algorithm to tackle larger instances. Computational results obtained for several classes of instances are reported and discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

The use of cosmic muons in detecting heterogeneities in large volumes

The muon intensity attenuation method to detect heterogeneities in large matter volumes is analyzed. Approximate analytical expressions to estimate the collection time and the signal to noise ratio, are proposed and validated by Monte Carlo simulations. Important parameters, including point spread function and coordinate reconstruction uncertainty are also estimated using Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, submetted to NIM

Antimicrobial Stewardship Interventions in Pediatric Oncology: A Systematic Review

Antimicrobial stewardship programs represent efficacious measures for reducing antibiotic overuse and improving outcomes in different settings. Specific data on pediatric oncology are lacking. We conducted a systematic review on the PubMed and Trip databases according to the PRISMA guidelines, searching for reports regarding antimicrobial stewardship in pediatric oncology and hematology patients. The aim of the study was to summarize the present literature regarding the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs or initiatives in this particular population, and provide insights for future investigations. Nine papers were included in the qualitative analysis: three regarding antifungal interventions, five regarding antibacterial interventions, and one regarding both antifungal and antibacterial stewardship interventions. Variable strategies were reported among the included studies. Different parameters were used to evaluate the impact of these interventions, including days of therapy per 1000-patient-days, infections with resistant strains, safety analysis, and costs. We generally observed a reduction in the prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics and an improved appropriateness, with reduced antibiotic-related side effects and no difference in infection-related mortality. Antibiotic stewardship programs or interventions are effective in reducing antibiotic consumption and improving outcomes in pediatric oncology hematology settings, although stewardship strategies differ substantially in different institutions. A standardized approach needs to be implemented in future studies in order to better elucidate the impact of stewardship programs in this category of patients

Comparison of blood and milk non-specific immune parameters in heifers after calving in relation to udder health

A practical protocol to study udder immune status in field conditions was planned with the aim to assess different non-specific immune parameters in milk samples from dairy heifers during the periparturient period. Five herds located in northern Italy were selected and overall 39 heifers were enrolled in the trial. Milk samples were taken at 7, 14, 21, 28, 45, 60, and 75 days after calving. The parameters assessed were N-acetyl-\u3b2-glucosaminidase (NAGase), lysozyme, respiratory burst (RB), somatic cell counts (SCC) and serum protein profile. SCC and NAGase were higher in the first sampling after calving, while lysozyme showed large variations during the observation period without a definite trend. The levels of RB observed in the first two weeks after calving, even if lower, were not statistically different from the values observed in samples taken over the following weeks. This study confirmed that the levels of immune components in milk are different from what is observed at blood level in the same cow. A significant decrease in RB in milk polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) post-calving was not observed; milk PMN from healthy cows showed low RB levels, while the values from infected quarters were significantly higher. Significant differences between healthy and infected animals were also observed for milk NAG, lactoglobulin and albumin. These data suggest that udder immune response could be influenced both by the cow immune status and by external factors such as pathogens and management. Therefore, the reduction in immune defences, particularly in heifers, is not unavoidable and methods to boost PMN activity should be explored

In‐Depth Immunological Typization of Children with Sickle Cell Disease: A Preliminary Insight into Its Plausible Correlation with Clinical Course and Hydroxyurea Therapy

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a condition of functional hypo‐/a‐splenism in which predisposition to bacterial infections is only a facet of a wide spectrum of immune‐dysregulation disorders forming the clinical expression of a peculiar immunophenotype. The objective of this study was to perform an in‐depth immunophenotypical characterization of SCD pediatric patients, looking for plausible correlations between immunological biomarkers, the impact of hydroxyurea (HU) treatment and clinical course. This was an observational case–control study including 43 patients. The cohort was divided into two main groups, SCD subjects (19/43) and controls (24/43), differing in the presence/absence of an SCD diagnosis. The SCD group was split up into HU+ (12/19) and HU− (7/19) subgroups, respectively receiving or not a concomitant HU treatment. The principal outcomes measured were differences in the immunophenotyping between SCD patients and controls through chi‐squared tests, t‐tests, and Pearson’s correlation analysis between clinical and immunological parameters. Leukocyte and neutrophil increase, T‐cell depletion with prevalence of memory T‐cell compartment, NK and B‐naïve subset elevation with memory and CD21low B subset reduction, and IgG expansion, significantly distinguished the SCD HU− subgroup from controls, with naïve T cells, switched‐memory B cells and IgG maintaining differences between the SCD HU+ group and controls (p‐value of <0.05). The mean CD4+ central‐memory T‐cell% count was the single independent variable showing a positive correlation with vaso‐occlusive crisis score in the SCD group (Pearson’s R = 0.039). We report preliminary data assessing plausible clinical implications of baseline and HU‐related SCD immunophenotypical alterations, which need to be validated in larger samples, but potentially affecting hypo‐/a‐splenism immuno‐chemoprophylactic recommendations