Topological two-body bound states in the interacting Haldane model

We study the topological properties of the two-body bound states in an interacting Haldane model as a function of interparticle interactions. In particular, we identify topological phases where the two-body edge states have either the same or the opposite chirality as compared to single-particle edge states. We highlight that in the moderately interacting regime, which is relevant for the experimental realization with ultracold atoms, the topological transition is affected by the internal structure of the bound state, and the phase boundaries are consequently deformed

Energy diaphragm walls for Turin metro

The increasing need for renewable sources of energy for heating and cooling of buildings and infrastructures makes energy geostructures an innovative and interesting technology, which is rapidly spreading all around the world. This category includes all underground structures that are in contact and can exchange heat with the subsoil, being transformed into low enthalpy geothermal systems. The thermal activation of diaphragm walls, which are normally required in urban constructions such as underground car parks or cut and cover tunnels, is the focus of this paper. Thhe results of Finite Element numerical analyses, performed to estimate the heat exchange achievable by the geothermal activation of section 1 of the Turin Metro Line 2 tunnel currently under design in Italy, are described

SME Instrument – So Far So Good? Expectations, Reality and Lessons to Learn

The SME Instrument (SMEI) is a new consolidated funding scheme within Horizon 2020. It was introduced in 2014 as a dedicated tool to support high potential innovation, ultimately as a way to consolidate EU policy efforts to foster European competitiveness in advanced technologies in order to match its excellence in science. The expectations were pinned on small firms – the drivers of knowledge economy. There was never previously a tool dedicated exclusively to supporting the technological entrepreneurship of small and medium-sized companies in the European policy landscape. Therefore, the introduction of the SME Instrument was eagerly expected and widely welcomed by both policymakers and European small companies. However, both practitioners and experts have been growing increasingly frustrated with the pace and the rates of implementation of the Instrument. With the extraordinary rate of response from European SMEs that the Instrument received, it has so far been financially constrained in satisfying the demand, which has eventually led to some losses of investment and the neglect of talent. this report, we provide the description and initial analysis of the SME Instrument, as well as first lessons that can be extracted from the ongoing stream of applications. We first note that Europe has long been experiencing a paradoxical disbalance between its strength in scientific research and its low capacity in innovation. We illustrate how the need for a dedicated tool of technological innovation support within the European policy landscape has been growing, becoming increasingly recognised throughout the successive framework programmes. In essence, the design of the SME Instrument mimics that of the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research Program in its 3-phase structure, amounts of the awards and focus on technology commercialisation. We analyse evaluation reports and academic literature of SBIR and provide initial comparison between the two programmes. What we note is that SBIR had multiple unexpected non-financial positive externalities, such as the facilitation of entrepreneurship culture, and we make multiple propositions about the likelihood of these effects occurring as a result of the SME Instrument funding. The report identifies three main policy implications based on first years of implementation of the SMEI: while it is extremely popular, it is way too competitive. The low probability of funding may discourage future applications once the hype for the new tool fades. Second, the variety of firms applying for the SMEI support discloses the variety of strategies and ways of coping with early stage lack of financing that exist in Europe. Many lessons can be extracted from the narratives of applicant firms and their business models. Third, there is still a lot of ambiguity about the 3rd phase of the SMEI and the ways in which SMEI awardees can access further sources of European finance. Finally, the report profiles the proposals in terms of their technological area, country where the proposals submitted from, countries with the highest rates of funded proposals, size and age of applicant and successful SMEs, the amount of funding allocated. Eventually, we open up discontinuities in funding between phase 1 and phase 2 of the SMEI, calling them ‘Wasted Talent’. This data can be a source for ongoing research in innovation management. Among others, the paper provides initial insights into how the SMEI awardee data can be used for the analysis of fast growing firms across sectors, how the applicant and awardee data can be used in the evaluation of the SMEI as a policy tool, a comparative dimension with the US SBIR and how it is possible to study synergies with other entrepreneurship policies on the European and national levels

Beyond Income and Inequlity: The Role of Socio-Political Factors for Alleviating Energy Poverty in Europe

In each country, the occurrence of energy poverty among resident households is usually related to low income and its unequal distribution. Like other manifestations of material deprivation, however, such a phenomenon is likely to be also correlated with some internal socio-political factors that allow its persistence by preventing effective solutions. In this paper, we build and analyse a dataset for European countries by assessing the role of the perceived quality of internal public governance on different measures of energy deprivation. Specifically, we rely on the Worldwide Governance Indicators provided by the World Bank and estimate an array of panel models. After controlling for income, income inequality, energy prices, and weather conditions, we find that high government effectiveness, good regulatory quality, widespread property rights, contract enforcement, and corruption control are significantly associated with lower energy poverty. In addition, we consider the policy implications of this broader perspective on energy deprivation

¿De la deslocalización al "backshoring"? Evidencia de los distritos industriales italianos

In recent decades, industrial districts (ID) have experienced intense delocalisation to low-cost countries, with implications for IDs’ internal structure. Recent studies, however, highlight the advantages of relocalising manufacturing in home countries. This paper investigates ID firms’ production-location strategies and backshoring decisions. The results from a survey of 259 firms in eight Italian IDs show that firms that delocalise production do not change their strategies over time and make limited recourse to backshoring. ID production is still important to guarantee product quality and access to specialised know-how.En las últimas décadas, los distritos industriales experimentaron una deslocalización intensa hacia países de bajo costo, con implicaciones en la estructura interna del distrito. Estudios recientes destacan las ventajas de volver a localizar la producción en el mercado nacional. Este artículo analiza las estrategias de localización de las empresas del distrito de producción y las decisiones de “backshoring”. El trabajo empírico consiste en un análisis descriptivo de 259 empresas ubicadas en 8 distritos industriales en Italia. Los resultados muestran que las empresas que deslocalizaron la producción no han cambiado sus estrategias con el tiempo, con un limitado recurso al “back-shoring”. No obstante, la producción del distrito es todavía importante para garantizar la calidad del producto y el acceso a un “know-how” especializado

Evaluating Wiki Collaborative Features in Ontology Authoring (Extended abstract)

Abstract: This extended abstract summarizes a rigorous investigation about the effectiveness of the impact of wiki collaborative functionalities on the collaborative ontology authoring. The work summarized in this extended abstract has been published in Context. This extended abstract summarizes a rigorous investigation about the impact of wiki collaborative functionalities on ontology modelling, presented in: Good quality ontology modelling often demands for multiple competencies and skills, which are difficult to find in a single person. This results in the need of involving more actors, possibly with different roles and expertise, collaborating towards the ontology construction. Collaborative ontology authoring has been recently widely investigated in the literature A first requirement deals with the collaboration between who knows the domain that is going to be modelled, i.e., the Domain Expert (DE) and who has the technical skills to formalize the domain modelling. i.e., the Knowledge Engineer (KE). Traditional methodologies and tools were mainly based on the idea that knowledge engineers should drive the modelling process (producing ontologies in a formalism which is usually not understandable for domain experts) and domain experts should only report to KEs their knowledge of the domain. However, these methodologies often create an unnecessary extra layer of indirectness, an imbalance between the two roles and the impossibility for the domain experts to understand the modelled ontology. DEs should be actively involved in the ontology modelling process rather than only provide domain knowledge to KEs. A second important requirement deals with the support of distributed teams of actors. Independently of their geographical position or their role, team members should be made aware about the collaborative development of the modelled artefacts, should be supported in the communication of modeling choices, as well as in the work coordination. Wiki tools for the ontology authoring offer an appealing option for tackling these collaborative aspects. Indeed wikis usually provide collaborative features (wiki collaborative 1 Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Via Sommarive, 18, 38123 Trento, dfmchiara|ghidini|rospocher@fbk,e

Serum Cystatin C for the diagnosis of acute Kidney Injury in Patients Admitted in the Emergency Department

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) at emergency department (ED) is a challenging issue. Current diagnostic criteria for AKI poorly recognize early renal dysfunction and may cause delayed diagnosis. We evaluated the use of serum cystatin C (CysC) for the early and accurate diagnosis of AKI in patients hospitalized from the ED. METHODS: In a total of 198 patients (105 males and 93 females), serum CysC, serum creatinine (sCr), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were calculated at 0, 6, 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after presentation to the ED. We compared two groups according to the presence or absence of AKI. RESULTS: Serial assessment of CysC, sCr, and eGFR was not a strong, reliable tool to distinguish AKI from non-AKI. CysC > 1.44 mg/L at admission, both alone (Odds Ratio = 5.04; 95%CI 2.20-11.52; P < 0.0002) and in combination with sCr and eGFR (Odds Ratio = 5.71; 95%CI 1.86-17.55; P < 0.002), was a strong predictor for the risk of AKI. CONCLUSIONS: Serial assessment of CysC is not superior to sCr and eGFR in distinguishing AKI from non-AKI. Admission CysC, both alone and in combination with sCr and eGFR, could be considered a powerful tool for the prediction of AKI in ED patients

Thalamo-cortical network activity between migraine attacks. Insights from MRI-based microstructural and functional resting-state network correlation analysis

BACKGROUND: Resting state magnetic resonance imaging allows studying functionally interconnected brain networks. Here we were aimed to verify functional connectivity between brain networks at rest and its relationship with thalamic microstructure in migraine without aura (MO) patients between attacks. METHODS: Eighteen patients with untreated MO underwent 3 T MRI scans and were compared to a group of 19 healthy volunteers (HV). We used MRI to collect resting state data among two selected resting state networks, identified using group independent component (IC) analysis. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values of bilateral thalami were retrieved from a previous diffusion tensor imaging study on the same subjects and correlated with resting state ICs Z-scores. RESULTS: In comparison to HV, in MO we found significant reduced functional connectivity between the default mode network and the visuo-spatial system. Both HV and migraine patients selected ICs Z-scores correlated negatively with FA values of the thalamus bilaterally. CONCLUSIONS: The present results are the first evidence supporting the hypothesis that an abnormal resting within networks connectivity associated with significant differences in baseline thalamic microstructure could contribute to interictal migraine pathophysiology