“L’ (IN)ATTUAZIONE DEL DIRITTO DI ASILO” Profili storici, internazionali, comunitari, interni e comparati di un diritto in crisi

La tesi tratta del “diritto di asilo” con un approccio che ha voluto essere contemporaneamente “diacronico” e “sincronico”. L’istituto è stato difatti analizzato, tanto nella sua evoluzione storica, quanto nella prospettiva comparata imposta dalla peculiarità delle attuali risultanti di detta evoluzione negli ordinamenti italiano, francese, tedesco e spagnolo. Non si è infine tralasciata un’indagine di quanto in materia disposto dal diritto internazionale e da quello comunitario

Cultural heritage e social media engagement. L’esperienza delle imprese storiche del Made in Italy

2015 - 2016Obiettivi. Il lavoro ha la finalità di approfondire le modalità di utilizzo delle leve connesse al cultural heritage nelle strategie di social media communication delle imprese storiche del made in Italy, indagando l’effettivo grado di utilizzo dei molteplici strumenti potenzialmente a disposizione per valorizzare in chiave strategica il proprio vissuto storico, al fine di favorire lo sviluppo dei processi di social media engagement. Metodologia. La ricerca si basa su una content analysis condotta su dati secondari, che ha riguardato le imprese di medie e grandi dimensioni iscritte nel “Registro Nazionale delle Imprese Storiche Italiane” di Unioncamere. Il calcolo degli indici di likeability e di shareability, e la misurazione dei livelli di awareness e engagement del campione di imprese analizzato ha consentito di misurare l’efficacia della comunicazione nell’incrementare il social media engagement. Risultati. I risultati dell’analisi dimostrano che la componente del cultural heritage è una leva intrinseca dell’engagement. L’adozione di metriche come il likeability rate e lo shareability rate e la misurazione dei livelli di awareness e engagement ha dato la possibilità di valutare l’efficacia delle variabili cultural heritage, nell’ottica di favorire l’interazione con i followers. Limiti della ricerca. Il principale limite dello studio è legato alla prospettiva d’analisi privilegiata, focalizzata esclusivamente sulle politiche di comunicazione social delle imprese longeve attraverso Facebook, trascurando ulteriori piattaforme social potenzialmente interessanti ai fini della ricerca. Inoltre la misurazione degli indicatori di awareness ed engagement si basa su dati tempo-varianti. Implicazioni pratiche. Il presente lavoro fornisce una iniziale panoramica delle azioni dirette a sfruttare il vantaggio competitivo generato dalle variabili connesse al cultural heritage. Le risultanze emerse dal lavoro potrebbero essere di preminente interesse per imprese e territori, come quelli italiani, in cui l’immagine del patrimonio culturale nazionale, ed in particolare delle sue componenti intangibili ed identitarie, rappresenta una fondamentale leva di vantaggio competitivo sui mercati internazionali. 3 Originalità del lavoro. Il presente lavoro costituisce il primo esempio di indagine su larga scala volta ad investigare gli strumenti potenzialmente a disposizione delle aziende per valorizzare in chiave strategica il proprio vissuto storico. [a cura dell'autore]Objectives. The aim of the thesis is to explore the tools related to the cultural heritage in the social media communication strategies of made in Italy historical companies, investigating the actual use of the tools available to strategically enhance the historical experience and to promote the development of engagement processes. Methodology. The research is based on a content analysis developed on secondary data, concerning medium and large companies registered in the “National Register of Italian Historical Firms” of Unioncamere. The calculation of the likebility and shareability indices and the measurement of awareness and engagement levels of the analyzed companies sample, has helped to measure the effectiveness of communication to increase social media engagement. Results. The results of the analysis show that the component of cultural heritage is an intrinsic leverage of engagement. The adoption of metrics such as the likeability rate and shareability rate and the measurement of awareness and engagement levels gave the opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural heritage variables to promote interaction with followers. Research limits. The main limit of the study is related to the chosen analysis perspective, focused only on social media communication policies of historic companies on Facebook, neglecting further social media platforms potentially useful for research purposes. Moreover, the measurement of awareness and engagement indicators is based on time-depending data. Practical implications. This research provides an initial overview of the actions aimed at using the competitive advantage generated by variables related to the cultural heritage. The results could be useful for companies and territories, like the Italian ones, where the image of national cultural heritage represents a strategic leverage of competitive advantage on international markets. 4 Originality of the study. This research is the first example of a large-scale investigation aimed at examinating the tools potentially available for the companies interested in giving value to their historical experience. [edited by author]XXIX n.s

Free-Form Design of Rotor Blades

This work investigates an integrated free-form approach for the design of rotor blades, where airfoil shapes are treated as unknowns. This leads to the simultaneous optimization of the chord, twist and structural design variables, together with the airfoil shapes along the blade. As airfoils are automatically tailored to the evolution of the blade, this process results in a better exploration of the solution space and relieves the user from the burden of up-front choices, leading to better final designs. The proposed approach is demonstrated by sizing a 2 MW wind turbine blade

A comparison study of distribution-free multivariate SPC methods for multimode data

The data-rich environments of industrial applications lead to large amounts of correlated quality characteristics that are monitored using Multivariate Statistical Process Control (MSPC) tools. These variables usually represent heterogeneous quantities that originate from one or multiple sensors and are acquired with different sampling parameters. In this framework, any assumptions relative to the underlying statistical distribution may not be appropriate, and conventional MSPC methods may deliver unacceptable performances. In addition, in many practical applications, the process switches from one operating mode to a different one, leading to a stream of multimode data. Various nonparametric approaches have been proposed for the design of multivariate control charts, but the monitoring of multimode processes remains a challenge for most of them. In this study, we investigate the use of distribution-free MSPC methods based on statistical learning tools. In this work, we compared the kernel distance-based control chart (K-chart) based on a one-class-classification variant of support vector machines and a fuzzy neural network method based on the adaptive resonance theory. The performances of the two methods were evaluated using both Monte Carlo simulations and real industrial data. The simulated scenarios include different types of out-of-control conditions to highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods. Real data acquired during a roll grinding process provide a framework for the assessment of the practical applicability of these methods in multimode industrial applications

Empirical Mode Decomposition of Pressure Signal for Health Condition Monitoring in Waterjet Cutting

Waterjet/abrasive waterjet cutting is a flexible technology that can be exploited for different operations on a wide range of materials. Due to challenging pressure conditions, cyclic pressure loadings, and aggressiveness of abrasives, most of the components of the ultra-high pressure (UHP) pump and the cutting head are subject to wear and faults that are difficult to predict. Therefore, the continuous monitoring of machine health conditions is of great industrial interest, as it allows implementing condition-based maintenance strategies, and providing an automatic reaction to critical faults, as far as unattended processes are concerned. Most of the literature in this frame is focused on indirect workpiece quality monitoring and on fault detection for critical cutting head components (e.g., orifices and mixing tubes). A very limited attention has been devoted to the condition monitoring of critical UHP pump components, including cylinders and valves. The paper investigates the suitability of the water pressure signal as a source of information to detect different kinds of fault that may affect both the cutting head and the UHP pump components. We propose a condition monitoring approach that couples empirical mode decomposition (EMD) with principal component analysis to detect any pattern deviation with respect to a reference model, based on training data. The EMD technique is used to separate high-frequency transient patterns from low-frequency pressure ripples, and the computation of combined mode functions is applied to cope with the mode mixing effect. Real industrial data, acquired under normal working conditions and in the presence of actual faults, are used to demonstrate the performances provided by the proposed approach

Profile Monitoring of Probability Density Functions via Simplicial Functional PCA with application to Image Data

The advance of sensor and information technologies is leading to data-rich industrial environments, where large amounts of data are potentially available. This study focuses on industrial applications where image data are used more and more for quality inspection and statistical process monitoring. In many cases of interest, acquired images consist of several and similar features that are randomly distributed within a given region. Examples are pores in parts obtained via casting or additive manufacturing, voids in metal foams and light-weight components, grains in metallographic analysis, etc. The proposed approach summarizes the random occurrences of the observed features via their (empirical) probability density functions (PDFs). In particular, a novel approach for PDF monitoring is proposed. It is based on simplicial functional principal component analysis (SFPCA), which is performed within the space of density functions, that is, the Bayes space B2. A simulation study shows the enhanced monitoring performances provided by SFPCA-based profile monitoring against other competitors proposed in the literature. Finally, a real case study dealing with the quality control of foamed material production is discussed, to highlight a practical use of the proposed methodology. Supplementary materials for the article are available online

Evidence of mosquito-transmitted flavivirus circulation in Piedmont, north-western Italy

BACKGROUND: Flavivirus is a highly heterogeneous viral genus that includes important human pathogens and several viral strains with unknown zoonotic potential. Mosquito-borne flaviviruses have been isolated and characterized in Northern Italy: West Nile virus and Usutu virus were detected in mosquitoes and in different host species and recent studies provided evidence about the circulation of “insect Flavivirus” strains. METHODS: In order to clarify the diffusion and the distribution of the mosquito-transmitted flaviviruses in Italy, we analyzed Culex and Ochlerotatus mosquitoes collected in 2009 and 2010 in an area divided evenly between hills and plains and where the landscape is dominated by mixed agricultural patches, rice fields, deciduous tree forests, and urban environments. Each mosquito pool was tested for the presence of Flavivirus strains and we characterized positive samples by genetic sequencing. RESULTS: Positive mosquito pools revealed low infection prevalence, but suggested a continuous circulation of both Usutu virus and insect Flavivirus. Interestingly, phylogenetic analyses based on NS5 gene partial sequences showed a closer relationship among new Usutu virus strains from Piedmont and the reference sequences from the Eastern Europe, with respect to Italian samples characterized so far. Moreover, NS5 gene phylogeny suggested that mosquito flaviviruses found in Italy could belong to different lineages. CONCLUSIONS: Our results contribute to a wider point of view on the heterogeneity of viruses infecting mosquitoes suggesting a taxonomical revision of the Mosquito-borne Flavivirus group

Neuroendocrine tumor presenting like lymphoma: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Neuroendocrine tumors are a rare but diverse group of malignancies that arise in a wide range of organ systems, including the mediastinum. Differential diagnosis includes other masses arising in the middle mediastinum such as lymphoma, pericardial, bronchogenic and enteric cysts, metastatic tumors, xanthogranuloma, systemic granuloma, diaphragmatic hernia, meningocele and paravertebral abscess. CASE PRESENTATION: We present a case of 42-year-old Caucasian man with a neuroendocrine tumor of the middle-posterior mediastinum and liver metastases, which resembled a lymphoma on magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSION: The differential diagnosis in patients with mediastinal masses and liver lesions should include neuroendocrine tumor