Dataset of ideological polarization in Western Europe

This dataset provides data on ideological polarization in Western Europe. It is based on parties’ left-right placement provided by several expert surveys. Then, it uses Dalton’s polarization index (2008) to calculate the polarization score in terms of votes and seats for each election. The dataset covers 20 Western European countries since 1945, for a total of 398 parliamentary elections and legislatures (Lower House). The dataset will be regularly updated to include the polarization scores of new elections and legislatures

A more sustainable membrane preparation using triethyl phosphate as solvent

Abstract In this work, hydrophobic poly(vinylidene fluoride) membranes for potential membrane distillation applications, with pore sizes ranging from ~ 0.05 to ~ 0.30 μm, were prepared by employing triethyl phosphate (TEP) as a substitute to the hazardous, commonly used, toxic solvents. Membrane morphologies and properties were tailored based on the main parameters, such as the casting solution composition and the operational conditions, which affect the phase inversion process. Experimental results showed that exposure time to controlled humid air and temperature, as well as additive content in the dope solution, strongly influence the membrane formation. The use of TEP as an alternative solvent may contribute to the development of sustainable separation operations

Party system change in EU countries: long-term instability and cleavage restructuring

none2nonessunomixedEmanuele, Vincenzo; Marino, BrunoEmanuele, Vincenzo; Marino, Brun

Dataset of Electoral Volatility in the European Parliament elections since 1979

This dataset provides data on electoral volatility and its internal components in the elections for the European Parliament (EP) in all European Union (EU) countries since 1979 or the date of their accession to the Union. It also provides data about electoral volatility for both the class bloc and the demarcation bloc. This dataset will be regularly updated so as to include the next rounds of the European Parliament elections. How to cite this dataset? Emanuele, V., Angelucci, D., Marino, B., Puleo, L., and Vegetti, F. (2019), Dataset of Electoral Volatility in the European Parliament elections since 1979, Rome: Italian Center for Electoral Studies, http://dx.doi.org/10.7802/1905

Detection of Wind Turbines in Intertidal Areas Using SAR Polarimetry

The detection of wind turbines in a strong clutter background is analyzed at variance of polarimetric synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) configurations. The area of interest is the intertidal zone near Jiangsu, China and two detectors are used, the polarimetric notch filter (PNF) and a change detector that optimizes the ratio between covariance matrices. The detection performance is quantitatively analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, while the scattering mechanisms that characterize wind turbines are analyzed using the Yamaguchi decomposition. Experimental analysis shows that: 1) wind turbines result in a nontrivial scattering mechanism and 2) full-polarimetric measurements achieve the best detection performance independently of the two detectors

Geological 3D model of the Po Basin

The geological 3D model of the Po Basin includes the geometry of four stratigraphic horizons (top or unconformity) bounding lithological homogeneous successions of sedimentary units, in the Triassic - Pleistocene time interval, and 179 fault geometries. Each stratigraphic horizon is supplemented by its isobaths. Where possible, the thickness of the succession above or below, respectively for basal unconformity and top, is provided with the surface depth. The lithology, event process, and age of each sedimentary succession are also provided. Each fault, with its upper tip line, is supplemented with the kinematic, mean values for strike, dip azimuth, and dip derived from the 3D surface geometry, and the age of the oldest and youngest faulted or deformed stratigraphic horizon, if obtainable from the 3D geological model. This harmonized dataset and the related data model were obtained in the framework of the GO-PEG project, co-funded by the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) of the European Commission. More specifically, this dataset is the output of the Go-Depth use case aiming to provide a methodology and a model to conceptualize, organize and deliver easy-to-use, high-quality, interoperable subsurface information for sustainable planning and use of natural resources. To this aim the data coming from European-funded projects GeoMol (Alpine Space Programme 2012-2015) and GeoERA HotLime (Horizon 2020, 2018-2021) has been used. In view of data interoperability, the data model has been developed as an extension of the INSPIRE Geology data model. The dataset is served through APIs conforming to the OGC API - Feature standard and it is also downloadable in GeoPackage format, anticipating the application of the principles established by the Open Data Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/1024) regarding the sharing of the High-Value Datasets. We acknowledge the listed researchers who contributed seismic and geological data interpretation to the GeoMol and HotLime Project

Gaining votes in Europe against Europe? How national contexts shaped the results of Eurosceptic parties in the 2014 European parliament elections

In the wake of the harshest economic crisis since 1929, in several European countries there has been a rise of Eurosceptic parties that oppose EU integration. The 2014 European Parliament elections were a fundamental turning point for these parties. In this article, after a theoretical discussion on the concept of Euroscepticism, we provide an updated classification of Eurosceptic parties after the 2014 European Parliament elections. We show the cross-country variability of such parties' results and present two hypotheses aiming at explaining Eurosceptic parties' results, one related to each country's economic context and one related to each country's political-institutional context. Through a comparative approach and the use of quantitative data, we test the two hypotheses by creating two standardised indices of economic and political-institutional contexts. Three important findings are shown: Eurosceptic parties perform better in either rich, creditor countries or in poor countries; Eurosceptic parties perform better in countries with peculiar political-institutional features, such as high levels of party system instability and a more permissive electoral system; finally, and crucially, favourable political-institutional contexts seem to be more important than favourable economic contexts for Eurosceptic parties' electoral results

Pregnenolone sulphate improves memory processing in early-handled female rats

Early life experiences lead to sex-specific behavioural and neurochemical changes in adulthood. Indeed, early handling enhances learning and memory in male rats (Cannizzaro et al., 2005), whereas it impairs learning performance in female adult rats, a finding that has been correlated to decreased nitric oxide (NO) production in the hippocampus (Noschang et al., 2010). Pregnenolone sulfate (PREGS) is considered as one of the most potent memory-enhancing neurosteroids, since its activity as a potent positive modulator of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) and a negative modulator of gamma-aminobutyric acid(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs) (Vallée et al., 2001). Given these premises, this study aims at characterizing the effect of PREGS on cognitive processes in adult female rats, subject to early handling protocol, by using an object-place association learning task, the ''Can test'', a motivated, non-aversive, spatial/object discrimination test (Popovic´ et al., 2001). Female Wistar rats underwent daily, brief, maternal separation from postnatal day 2 until 21. Once in adulthood, the effect of PREGS administration (10 mg/kg, s.c.) on correct responses, reference memory and working memory was assessed. Results show that PREGS was able to significantly increase the number of correct responses, and consistently, to decrease reference and working memory errors, compared with vehicle. No statistically significant effect of PREGS administration was observed in non-handled, control group. These findings sustain the impact of neurosteroids in learning and memory processing, and suggest a particular role for PREGS in reversing conditions of altered functionality, likely due to the modulation of the glutamate-NO-cGMP pathway (Cauli et al., 2011), and thus neurobiological mechanisms underlying learning and memory. As a consequence, PREGS may represent an important therapeutic tool as memory-enhancer, in order to tackle cognitive deficit caused by stress in early lif

A dual-polarimetric approach to earthquake damage assessment

In this study, a novel physical approach is proposed to detect damages due to earthquakes using dual polarimetric (DP) coherent Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery. An optimization method, aimed at enhancing scattering basis differences between measurements collected before and after the event, is designed exploiting Lagrange optimization of the difference between two polarimetric covariance matrices. A meaningful showcase is presented to demonstrate the soundness of the proposed approach that consists of processing Sentinel–1 C–band scenes related to 2016 Central Italy Earthquake. The proposed approach, which is contrasted with the conventional coherence based single– and dual–polarization approaches, results in the best sensitivity to damages