Evaluation of the damages caused by lightning current flowing through bearings

A laboratory for lightning current tests was set up allowing the generation of the lightning currents foreseen by the Standards. Lightning tests are carried out on different objects, aircraft materials and components, evaluating the direct and indirect effects of lightning. Recently a research was carried out to evaluate the effects of the lightning current flow through bearings with special reference to wind power generator applications. For this purpose, lightning currents of different amplitude were applied to bearings in different test conditions and the damages caused by the lightning current flow were analyzed. The influence of the load acting on the bearing, the presence of lubricant and the bearing rotation were studied

cquad: An R and Stata Package for Conditional Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Dynamic Binary Panel Data Models

We illustrate the R package cquad for conditional maximum likelihood estimation of the quadratic exponential (QE) model proposed by Bartolucci and Nigro (2010) for the analysis of binary panel data. The package also allows us to estimate certain modified versions of the QE model, which are based on alternative parametrizations, and it includes a function for the pseudo-conditional likelihood estimation of the dynamic logit model, as proposed by Bartolucci and Nigro (2012). We also illustrate a reduced version of this package that is available in Stata. The use of the main functions of this package is based on examples using labor market data

User-centered design of a dynamic-autonomy remote interaction concept for manipulation-capable robots to assist elderly people in the home

In this article, we describe the development of a human-robot interaction concept for service robots to assist elderly people in the home with physical tasks. Our approach is based on the insight that robots are not yet able to handle all tasks autonomously with sufficient reliability in the complex and heterogeneous environments of private homes. We therefore employ remote human operators to assist on tasks a robot cannot handle completely autonomously. Our development methodology was user-centric and iterative, with six user studies carried out at various stages involving a total of 241 participants. The concept is under implementation on the Care-O-bot 3 robotic platform. The main contributions of this article are (1) the results of a survey in form of a ranking of the demands of elderly people and informal caregivers for a range of 25 robot services, (2) the results of an ethnography investigating the suitability of emergency teleassistance and telemedical centers for incorporating robotic teleassistance, and (3) a user-validated human-robot interaction concept with three user roles and corresponding three user interfaces designed as a solution to the problem of engineering reliable service robots for home environments

Neuroblastoma targeted therapy: employment of CRISPR gene-editing to explore relevant markers and potential targets in aggressive tumours

Neuroblastoma is a tumour originating from the sympathetic nervous system, and represents the most common extracranial solid cancer in childhood. Despite the malignancy is extremely heterogeneous, about 25% of all cases is characterized by MYCN-gene amplification, aggressive tumour and poor survival. The network of genes that are deregulated in this group of patients represents a focal point for targeted-therapy discovery. Along this research line, the first objective of the present project was to investigate the prognostic significance of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located in the promoter of ODC1, a neuroblastoma prognostic marker involved in polyamine biosynthesis. The SNP genotype was first associated with survival of a large cohort of patients with aggressive neuroblastoma. Then, CRISPR-editing revealed that the SNP genotype affects ODC1 expression and proliferation of neuroblastoma cells. At last, the SNP was found to influence cell sensibility to DFMO, an ODC1 inhibitor that is currently under trial for treatment of aggressive neuroblastoma. The second objective was to investigate the role in neuroblastoma development and progression of RUNX1T1, a poorly studied transcription repressor involved in distinct development events and cancers. Survival analysis of a cohort of neuroblastoma patients revealed that RUNX1T1 is a potential oncosuppressor. In apparent contrast, RUNX1T1 knockout by CRISPR-editing demonstrated that the gene promotes aggressiveness of neuroblastoma cells. Transcriptome analysis of the mutant cells then evidenced deregulation of a significant number of genes and pathways that are prognostic markers in neuroblastoma, therefore depicting a multifunctional regulation network that could be exploited for new therapies. The third and last objective was to test a novel therapeutic approach based on MYCN-amplification targeting via CRISPR-cleavage. In vitro experiments demonstrated that the system efficiently and specifically impairs the survival of aggressive neuroblastoma cells, thus providing a proof of principle for the development of an innovative therapy

A home automation architecture based on LoRa technology and Message Queue Telemetry Transfer protocol

none5noIn recent years, Internet of Things technologies gained momentum in various application areas, including the Smart Home field. In this view, the smart objects available in the house can communicate with each other and with the outside world by adopting solutions already proposed for Internet of Things. In fact, among the challenges to face during the design and implementation of an Internet of Things–based Smart Home infrastructure, battery usage represents a key point for the realization of an efficient solution. In this context, the communication technology chosen plays a fundamental role, since transmission is generally the most energy demanding task, and Internet of Things communication technologies are designed to reduce as much as possible the power consumption. This article describes an Internet of Things-oriented architecture for the Smart Home, based on the long-range and low-power technology LoRa. Moreover, in order to enable the devices to communicate with each other and the outside world, the Message Queue Telemetry Transfer protocol is used as a domotic middleware. We show that LoRa, designed by having in mind the typical requirements of Internet of Things (i.e. low power consumption, sporadic transmission, and robustness to interference), is well-suited to also meet the need of more established home automation systems, specifically the low latency in message delivery. Interoperability among different devices may also be obtained through the Message Queue Telemetry Transfer midlleware.openEnnio Gambi, Laura Montanini, Danny Pigini, Gianluca Ciattaglia, Susanna SpinsanteGambi, Ennio; Montanini, Laura; Pigini, Danny; Ciattaglia, Gianluca; Spinsante, Susann

Enrollment costs, university quality and higher education choices in Italy

In this paper, we analyze the higher education choices of Italian secondary school leavers by addressing the roles of university quality, costs and geographical distance to the institution as well as the relationship between students’ choices and their personal and household’s attributes, such as individual secondary school background and the socio-economic condition of the family of origin. Grounding such decision process on the framework of the Random Utility Model (RUM), we provide empirical evidence on the determinants of students’ choices by estimating a nested logit model on the ISTAT survey of secondary school graduates. Results show that the effects of increasing costs of enrollments and university standards are strongly differentiated across sub-groups of individuals. In particular, the choice probability of weaker students, in the sense of secondary school background and household’s socio–economic condition, is more sensitive to changes in university costs and quality

Enrollment costs, university quality and higher education choices in Italy

In this paper, we analyze the higher education choices of Italian secondary school leavers by addressing the roles of university quality, costs and geographical distance to the institution as well as the relationship between students’ choices and their personal and household’s attributes, such as individual secondary school background and the socio-economic condition of the family of origin. Grounding such decision process on the framework of the Random Utility Model (RUM), we provide empirical evidence on the determinants of students’ choices by estimating a nested logit model on the ISTAT survey of secondary school graduates. Results show that the effects of increasing costs of enrollments and university standards are strongly differentiated across sub-groups of individuals. In particular, the choice probability of weaker students, in the sense of secondary school background and household’s socio–economic condition, is more sensitive to changes in university costs and quality

cquad: An R and Stata Package for Conditional Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Dynamic Binary Panel Data Models

We illustrate R package cquad for conditional maximum likelihood estimation of the quadratic exponential (QE) model proposed by Bartolucci and Nigro (2010) for the analysis of binary panel data. The package also allows us to estimate certain modified versions of the QE model, which are based on alternative parametrizations, and it includes a function for the pseudo conditional likelihood estimation of the dynamic logit model, as proposed by Bartolucci and Nigro (2012). We also illustrate a reduced version of this package that is available in Stata. The use of the main functions of this package is based on examples using labor market data

Partial effects estimation for fixed-effects logit panel data models

We propose a multiple step procedure to estimate Average Partial Effects (APE) in fixed-effects panel logit models. Because the incidental parameters problem plagues the APEs via both the inconsistent estimates of the slope and individual parameters, we reduce the bias by evaluating the APEs at a fixed-T consistent estimator for the slope coefficients and at a bias corrected estimator for the unobserved heterogeneity. The proposed estimator has bias of order O(T −2 ) as n → ∞ and performs well in finite sample, even when n is much larger than T . We provide a real data application based on the labor supply of married women