IL RAPPORTO BANCA - IMPRESA NELL' ATTUALE CONTESTO DI CRISI FINANZIARIA

Il presente lavoro di tesi ripercorre le tappe salienti del rapporto banca-impresa, in Italia e nel mondo, dagli anni '70 a oggi. Lo scopo ultimo è quello di evidenziare il contributo del sistema bancario italiano, nell'attuale contesto di crisi finanziaria internazionale, alla ripresa e al sostegno delle imprese e dell'economia reale nazionali, anche alla luce delle linee teoriche fornite nel corso della trattazione

Star polymers rupture induced by constant forces

In this work, we study the breakage process of an unknotted three-arm star-shaped polymer when it is pulled from its free ends by a constant force. The star polymer configuration is described through an array of monomers coupled by anharmonic bonds, while the rupture process is tracked in three-dimensional space by means of Langevin Molecular Dynamics simulations. The interaction between monomers is described by a Morse potential, while a Weeks-Chandler-Anderson energetic contribution accounts for the excluded volume interaction. We explore the effect of the molecular architecture on the distributions of rupture times over a broad interval of pulling forces and star configurations. It was found that the rupture time distribution of the individual star arms is strongly affected by the star configuration imposed by the pulling forces and the length of the arms. We also observed that for large pulling forces the rupture time distributions resemble the dominant features observed for linear polymer chains. The model introduced here provides the basic ingredients to describe the effects of tensile forces on stress-induced degradation of branched macromolecules and polymer networks.Fil: García, Nicolás. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Física del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Física del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Febbo, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Física del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Física del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Vega, Daniel Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Física del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Física del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Milchev, A.. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences; Bulgari

On the critical forcing amplitude of forced nonlinear oscillators

© Versita sp. z o.o. The steady-state response of forced single degree-of-freedom weakly nonlinear oscillators under primary resonance conditions can exhibit saddle-node bifurcations, jump and hysteresis phenomena, if the amplitude of the excitation exceeds a certain value. This critical value of excitation amplitude or critical forcing amplitude plays an important role in determining the occurrence of saddle-node bifurcations in the frequency-response curve. This work develops an alternative method to determine the critical forcing amplitude for single degree-of-freedom nonlinear oscillators. Based on Lagrange multipliers approach, the proposed method considers the calculation of the critical forcing amplitude as an optimization problem with constraints that are imposed by the existence of locations of vertical tangency. In comparison with the Gröbner basis method, the proposed approach is more straightforward and thus easy to apply for finding the critical forcing amplitude both analytically and numerically. Three examples are given to confirm the validity of the theoretical predictions. The first two present the analytical form for the critical forcing amplitude and the third one is an example of a numerically computed solution

Clinical and biochemical response to neridronate treatment in a patient with osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome (OPPG)

Osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome (OPPG) is a rare autosomal recessive syndrome characterized by juvenile-onset osteoporosis and ocular abnormalities due to a low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) gene mutation. Treatment with bisphosphonates, particularly with pamidronate and risedronate, has been reported to be of some efficacy in this condition. We report on a patient with OPPG due to an LRP5 gene mutation, who showed an encouraging response after a 36-month period of neridronate therapy. We report a case of a patient treated with bisphosphonates. Bisphosphonates should be administered in OPPG patients as a first-line therapy during early childhood

Real-time Trajectory Planning to Enable Safe and Performant Automated Vehicles Operating in Unknown Dynamic Environments

Need for increased automated vehicle safety and performance will exist until control systems can fully exploit the vehicle's maneuvering capacity to avoid collisions with both static and moving obstacles in unknown environments. A safe and performance-based trajectory planning algorithm exists that can operate an automated vehicle in unknown static environments. However, this algorithm cannot be used safely in unknown dynamic environments; furthermore, it is not real-time. Accordingly, this thesis addresses two overarching research questions: * How should a trajectory planning algorithm be formulated to enable automated ground vehicle safety and performance in unknown dynamic environments? * How can such an algorithm be solved in real-time? Safe trajectory planning for high-performance automated vehicles with both static and moving obstacles is a challenging problem. Part of the challenge is developing a formulation that can be solved in real-time while including the following set of specifications: minimum time to goal, a dynamic vehicle model, minimum control effort, both static and moving obstacle avoidance, simultaneous optimization of speed and steering, and a short execution horizon. This thesis presents a nonlinear model predictive control-based trajectory planning formulation, tailored for a high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV), that includes the above set of specifications. This formulation is tested then with various sets of these specifications in a known dynamic environment. In particular, a parametric study relating execution horizon and obstacle speed reveals that the moving obstacle avoidance specification is not needed for safety when the planner has a short execution horizon (< 0.375 s), and the obstacles are slow (< 2.11 m/s). However, a moving obstacle avoidance specification is needed when the obstacles move faster, and this specification improves safety without, in most cases, increasing solve-times. Overall, results indicate that trajectory planners for high-performance automated vehicles should include the entire set of specifications mentioned above unless a static or low-speed environment permits a less comprehensive planner. Then, this thesis combines this comprehensive planning algorithm with a suitable perception algorithm to enable safe and performant control of automated ground vehicles in unknown dynamic environments. A high-fidelity, ROS-based proving ground with a 2D LiDAR model, in Gazebo, and a 145 degree of freedom model of the HMMWV, in Chrono, is developed to combine these algorithms. Six-hundred tests, realized with various obstacle speeds and sizes, are performed in this proving ground in both known and unknown dynamic environments. Results from this comparison demonstrate that operating in an unknown environment, as opposed to a known environment, significantly increases collisions, steering effort, throttle effort, braking effort, orientation and tracking error, time to goal, and planner solve times. To avoid this deterioration of safety and performance factors in unknown environments, the use of more accurate perception systems should be explored. Ultimately, however, these results demonstrate that the comprehensive trajectory planning formulation developed in this thesis enables safe and performant control of automated vehicles in unknown dynamic environments among small (< 2 m) obstacles traveling at speeds up to high (20 m/s). To solve this formulation in real-time, an open-source, direct-collocation-based optimal control problem modeling language, called NLOptControl, is established in this thesis. Results demonstrate that NLOptControl can solve the formulation in real-time in both known and unknown environments. NLOptControl holds great potential for not only improving existing off-line and on-line control systems but also engendering a wide variety of new ones.PHDMechanical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/149859/1/febbo_1.pd

Literature Lab: a method of automated literature interrogation to infer biology from microarray analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The biomedical literature is a rich source of associative information but too vast for complete manual review. We have developed an automated method of literature interrogation called "Literature Lab" that identifies and ranks associations existing in the literature between gene sets, such as those derived from microarray experiments, and curated sets of key terms (i.e. pathway names, medical subject heading (MeSH) terms, etc).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Literature Lab was developed using differentially expressed gene sets from three previously published cancer experiments and tested on a fourth, novel gene set. When applied to the genesets from the published data including an <it>in vitro </it>experiment, an <it>in vivo </it>mouse experiment, and an experiment with human tumor samples, Literature Lab correctly identified known biological processes occurring within each experiment. When applied to a novel set of genes differentially expressed between locally invasive and metastatic prostate cancer, Literature Lab identified a strong association between the pathway term "FOSB" and genes with increased expression in metastatic prostate cancer. Immunohistochemistry subsequently confirmed increased nuclear FOSB staining in metastatic compared to locally invasive prostate cancers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This work demonstrates that Literature Lab can discover key biological processes by identifying meritorious associations between experimentally derived gene sets and key terms within the biomedical literature.</p

A piezoelectric beam model with geometric, material and damping nonlinearities for energy harvesting

To predict electrical generation in piezoelectric small-scale beam energy harvesting devices, it is important to have a complete mathematical model that captures the different associated phenomena. In the literature, some authors propose several alternatives of non-linear mathematical formulations, with non-linearities coming from different physical aspects. All these formulations present good aptitudes to predict the nonlinear behavior of the system under different values of accelerations, geometry and boundary conditions. At the same time, they do not represent a unified general proposal for modeling multimodal energy harvesting devices of any type of mode generation and boundary conditions at large excitations. In this sense, this paper presents a mathematical description of inextensional nonlinear Euler-Bernoulli piezoelectric beams that combines the best contributions of the literature to the voltage generation of multimodal nonlinear piezoelectric energy harvesters (geometric, material and damping non-linearities). The developed analytical model yields a total set of N+ 1 ordinary differential equations for the first N modes and for the output voltage. However, direct solution of this ordinary nonlinear differential system of N equations is computationally costly. Instead, a reduced algebraic system of 2 algebraic equations is proposed applying the method of averaging. Its main advantage is that it makes more suitable and computationally economical for the implementation of a parameter identification process involving any number of piezoelectric inserts (unimorph or bimorph) and mode of generation (d33 or d31). Two types of validations are presented for some selected physical systems to test the validity of the assumptions: a numerical one, by the direct integration of the equations of motion and an experimental one. A final comparison between the results demonstrates the importance of the having a unified nonlinear model to predict the generated voltage in multimodal energy harvesters.Fil: Machado, Sebastián Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Tecnologica Nacional. Facultad Regional Bahia Blanca. Grupo de Investigacion En Multifisica Aplicada. - Comision de Investigaciones Cientificas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Grupo de Investigacion En Multifisica Aplicada.; ArgentinaFil: Febbo, Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Física del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Física. Instituto de Física del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Gatti, Claudio David. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Tecnologica Nacional. Facultad Regional Bahia Blanca. Grupo de Investigacion En Multifisica Aplicada. - Comision de Investigaciones Cientificas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Grupo de Investigacion En Multifisica Aplicada.; ArgentinaFil: Osinaga, Santiago Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca; Argentina. Universidad Tecnologica Nacional. Facultad Regional Bahia Blanca. Grupo de Investigacion En Multifisica Aplicada. - Comision de Investigaciones Cientificas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Grupo de Investigacion En Multifisica Aplicada.; Argentin

Increased transforming growth factor-beta1circulating levels and production in human monocytes after 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme a reductase inhibition with pravastatin

AbstractObjectivesWe sought to determine whether inhibition of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase with pravastatin affects transforming growth factor-beta1(TGF-beta1) circulating levels and its production in the monocytes of hypercholesterolemic patients.BackgroundTransforming growth factor-beta1is a multifunctional growth factor/cytokine involved in many physiologic and pathologic processes, such as vascular remodeling and atherogenesis. Statins have been reported to have a modulatory role in cytokine expression in the monocytes of hyperlipidemic patients.MethodsWe evaluated, in a cross-over study design, plasma TGF-beta1levels and ex vivo TGF-beta1production in the monocytes of hypercholesterolemic patients before and after four to six weeks of lipid-lowering treatment with diet or diet plus 40 mg/day of pravastatin. In addition, isolated blood monocytes were subjected to pravastatin treatment and evaluated for TGF-beta1messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression and TGF-beta1in vitro production.ResultsLipid-lowering treatment significantly decreased total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol plasma levels. Pravastatin, but not a low lipid diet, induced a significant increase in TGF-beta1plasma levels (from 1.7 ± 0.5 ng/ml to 3.1 ± 1.1 ng/ml, p < 0.001) and in ex vivo monocyte production (from 1.8 ± 0.8 ng/ml to 3.9 ± 1.0 ng/ml, p < 0.001). The increase in TGF-beta1levels was not related to the changes in the lipid profile observed with pravastatin. An increase of approximately twofold in TGF-beta1production and in mRNA expression was also observed after in vitro treatment of human monocytes with pravastatin (5 μM). Co-incubation with mevalonate reversed the in vitro effect of pravastatin.Conclusions3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibition with pravastatin increases TGF-beta1plasma levels, as well as monocyte production, in hypercholesterolemic patients. The mevalonate pathway plays a role in the regulation of TGF-beta1expression in human monocytes. A possible implication in the biologic and clinical effects of statins can be suggested

Effects of stimulant drugs on self-control choices in pigeons : determining behavioral mechanisms of drug action

The present study attempted to identify behavioral mechanisms of stimulant effects on “self-control” choices in pigeons. The experimental procedure required pigeons to respond on a single random interval (RI) 1 min schedule in order to choose between a smaller, more immediate reinforcer (1 s food after 2 s delay) and a larger, more delayed reinforcer (4 s food after 2 to 40 s delay). While the signaled delay to the smaller option remained 2 s throughout the session, the signaled delay associated with the larger option increased across five, 10 min blocks from 2 s to 40 s. In this way delay-discount functions were obtained within each experimental session. Once stable delay-discount functions were obtained, methylphenidate (MPD) (0.0 – 17.0 mg/kg) and methamphetamine (METH) (0.0 – 3.0 mg/kg) were administered via i.m. injections. Using a logarithmic variation of Herrnstein’s matching law, an attempt was made to separate changes in the sensitivity to delay (SD) from changes in the sensitivity to amount (SA). Overall, MPD and METH increased choices of the larger, more delayed reinforcer. Moreover, MPD’s and METH’s primary effects were a decrease in SD, although concomitant decreases in SA occasionally occurred. It is concluded that quantitative methods such as those used here may prove useful in elucidating behavioral mechanisms of drug action