Accomplice-Witnesses, Organized Crime and Corruption: Theory and Evidence from Italy

Since 1991 the Italian Legislator grants amnesties, protection and even economic bene.ts to former mobsters cooperating with the justice. These incentives were intro- duced to break down omertà. What is the economic logic behind this policy? Did the program succeed? To address these issues we develop a model accounting for the main trade-o¤s involved in the introduction of accomplice-witnesses regulations. We argue that rewarding informants is sometimes necessary to .ght organized crime and show how the optimal amnesty varies with the e¤ectiveness of the protection program, the reliability of the informants.testimonies, the strength of external complicities, and the internal cohesion between criminal partners. The optimal policy sti.es crime, spurs prosecution and induce a negative relationship between the number of talkers and the conviction rate. The available evidence supports the model.s predictions.Accomplice-witnesses, Criminal Organizations, Leniency, Whistle-Blower

Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistor for Memory and Switch Applications

Silicon technology has advanced at exponential rates both in performances and productivity through the past four decades. However the limit of CMOS technology seems to be closer and closer and in the future we might see an increasing number of hybrid approaches where other technologies add to the CMOS performance, while maintaining a back-bone of CMOS logic. Ferro-electricity in ultra-thin films has been investigated as a credible candidate for nonvolatile memory thanks to the bistability of polarization. 1 transistor (1T) ferroelectric memory cells have been proposed and experimentally studied in order to reduce the size of 1T-1C (1Transistor-1Capacitor) design with consequent advantages in terms of size, read-out operation and costs. More recently ferroelectrics have been proposed by Salahuddin and Datta as dielectric materials in order to lower the 60mV/dec limit of the subthreshold swing (SS) in silicon Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors, MOSFETs. The objective of this thesis is to study the ferroelectric transistor performance for both memory and switch application. For this purpose different Ferroelectric Field Effect Transistors, Fe-FETs, structures have been designed, fabricated and characterized. An organic ferroelectric polymer, vinylidene fluoride trifluorethylene, P(VDF-TrFE), of 100nm and 40nm thickness has been successfully integrated into the gate stack of bulk and SOI MOSFET and, later, on a Tunnel FET, TFET, structure. The 1T ferroelectric FET memory cells have shown a programming time in the order of ms at 9V as programming voltage. The retention of a few seconds, however, is the main limiting factor for the usage of this device for NV-memory applications. The retention failure mechanisms have been studied and investigated for future improvement. For the first time this work experimentally demonstrates that a subthreshold swing lower than 60mv/dec can be achieved in a ferroelectric transistor thanks to the voltage amplification arising from the ferroelectric material. This unique finding has been first measured in a 40nm P(VDF-TrFE)/10nm SiO2 gate stack MOSFET and then, confirmed, in a 100nm P(VDF-TrFE)/10nm SiO2 gate MOSFET with an intermediate contact between the two dielectrics. This internal node contact allows the study of the voltage amplification due to the ferroelectric material. Finally a temperature study of the performance of a ferroelectric Fully Depleted Silicon on Insulator, FD SOI, transistor has been done. A model based on Landau's theory has been carried out and it has been experimentally validated for both the subthreshold and the strong inversion regions. It has been demonstrated for the first time that, because of the divergence of the ferroelectric permittivity at the Curie temperature, Tc, a ferroelectric transistor has a maximum and a minimum, respectively of its transconductance and subthreshold swing, at Tc

Risposta di frutti di nespolo del Giappone della cv "palermitana" alla conservazione refrigerata

"Palermitana" loquat fruits were stored at 2, 4 or 8°C for 15 or 30 days before being transferred to shelf-life conditions (20°C and 75% RH) for 1 week. Before storage, fruits were dipped in an emulsion of an edible coating (Semperfresh) or wrapped with an extensible PVC film, while one lot received no treatment and was used as control. Fruit stored at 2°C maintained better the chemical and aesthetical characteristics, while a progressive increase in overall alteration was observed for the other IMO temperature regimes. In particular, fruits which were held at 4°C reported the highest weight loss and the highest rate of overall appearance alteration. The effect of plastic film was very important in preserving weight loss and overall appearance, while Semperfresh enhanced transpiration and visual appearance deterioration even more than the control. The results obtained show that fruit can be stored conveniently for 1 month at 2°C without no postharvest treatment, while, if applying a plastic film, they can hold an appreciable quality level for 1 month even at 4 or 8°C. Disappointing, on the other hand, was the response of the edible coating

Il Confezionamento con film plastico riduce le alterazioni dei frutti di avocado in frigoconservazione e ne prolunga la vita postraccolta

"Hass" avocado fruits, harvested in middle May, were film wrapped in polystyrene trays putting 3 fruits for each tray and using a heat shrinkable film. Soon after fruits were stored at 4°C, Boe or left at 20°C, in shelf-life condition. After 3 weeks of cold storage fruits were transferred to 20°C in shelf-life condition. The film was removed at the end of refrigeration, or after 3 or 6 days of shelf-life. Wrapping had little effect in prolonging the time required to reach the eating stage in fruits stored at 8°C with respect to the control, but was beneficial in reducing weight losses and internal browning. Wrapped fruits stored at 4°C took from 6 to 10 days in shelf-life condition to ripen and showed negligible signs of internal browning. Microbiological alteration was mainly due to anthracnosi which mostly affected fruits stored at 8°C, while slight signs were revealed in those maintained at 4°C. In conclusion, film wrapping associated with the refrigeration temperature of 4°C seems suitable to prolong postharvest life of avocado fruit, reducing in the same time, physiological disorder and decay

Influenza di alcuni interventi tecnologici nella trasformazione al naturale di olive da mensa

Sardinia table olives are chiefly obtained with the natural style, processing green fruits. Lack of scientific data sometimes results in low quality products. The present study was aimed to verify the effectiveness of some technological steps – such as brine acidification and sugar or microbial starter addition – on main chemical- physical parameters of “Manna” cultivar. Results clearly show beneficial effects of starter inoculation and acidification on the sensorial and safety characteristics. La produzione di olive da mensa in Sardegna è condotta quasi esclusivamente con il metodo al naturale su olive verdi. Tale tecnologia, vista anche la scarsità di documentazione scientifica al riguardo, porta spesso all’ottenimento di un prodotto scadente. Con il presente lavoro si è verificata l’efficacia di alcuni interventi tecnologici, quali l’acidificazione della salamoia e l’aggiunta di substrato fermentescibile o di starter microbici, sui principali parametri chimico- fisici delle olive della varietà “Manna”. I risultati ottenuti evidenziano gli effetti positivi, dal punto di vista sensoriale e igienico- sanitario, dello starter e dell’acidificazione

Influenza del confezionamento con film plastico sulla maturazione di frutti di avocado (<i>Persea americana</i> Mill.) cv Hass frigoconservati

Hass avocado fruit was harvested in mid April from a commercial orchard located in the Eastern Sicily. The fruits were transported under non-controlled conditions in Sardinia, where arrived the day after. Immediately after arrival, fruits were sorted out and were either wrapped individually in polystyrene trays with a 15 mm thick polyolefinic heat shrinkable film or not wrapped (group A), before being stored at 4 °C and 90 % RH for 0, 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks. At the end of each storage period, when the fruit was transferred at 20°C for ripening, a lot of fruit was un-wrapped (group B), while one more lot was un-wrapped after 3 days of exposure at 20 °C (group C). At day interval respiration rate and ethylene production rate were measured. Weight loss was releaved at the time of transferring and after 3 days at 20°C. When ripe the fruits were inspected for decay and internal browning, and the time required to reach the eating ripe stage was recorded. In addition, ten packaged fruits (group D) were used to measure the in-package concentration of CO2, 02 and C2H4. The necessary time to reach the climacteric peak decreased with time in storage, and since the fourth week of storage no rise was observed after transferring to 20°C. No important differences were observed among the no-wrapped fruit and the unwrapped ones in relation to C02, either at the moment of transfer from storage to 20°C or after 3 days at 20°C. Ethylene production rate decreased very highly by the time in storage, and the greatest reductions were observed in no-wrapped fruits, while in general the pattern was similar for the un-wrapped groups. The in-package atmosphere, which ranged between 3% and 6% for C02 and 16% and 12% for 02 during storage, affected neither the respiration rate nor the ethylene evolution, in fact when fruit were transferred at 20°C the CO2 and C2H4 concentration inside the packages increased, reached the peaks and then decreased with the same timing of no-wrapped or unwrapped fruits. In addition ethylene concentration decreased by the time in storage, as observed both for no-wrapped and unwrapped fruit. The action of wrapping in reducing weight losses resulted very effective; after 3 days at 20°C following 8 weeks storage the group A, B and C lost 15.5%,3.2% and 2.3% of the initial weight respectively. Decay was mainly caused by anthracnose but the incidence was low for all the treatments, in particular no differences were observed until the fruit were in storage, while after the transfer to 20°C it was significandy higher in group C. Wrapping also reduced internal browning, and the differences with the control became much more evident going on with the time in storage. In fruit placed directly at 20°C, or after 2 week storage, the plastic film slighdy retarded the time required to reach the eating ripe stage; but since the fourth week of storage the time required to the eating ripe stage decreased, and after 8 weeks of storage most of the control failed to ripen while the un-wrapped fruit ripened in about 5 days. Film wrapping was not effective in prolonging postharvest life of Hass avocado fruit by slowing the physiological activity of the fruit, but was very effective in reducing chilling injury, as evidenced by the negligible incidence of internal browning, the higher ethylene production rate, and the shorter time required to ripening following the fourth weeks of storage, when the severity of chilling injury appeared evident. Frutti di avocado della cultivar Hass sono stati raccolti nella seconda decade di aprile e frigoconservati a 4 °C e 90% di umiditaà relativa (UR) per 0, 2, 4, 6 e 8 settimane, dopo essere stati in parte confezionati singolarmente con un film plastico termoretraibile di natura poliolefinica di 15 micron di spessore in contenitori di polistirolo. Alla raccolta e dopo i succitati periodi di frigoconservazione i frutti sono stati trasferiti a 20°C e sono stati sconfezionati in parte subito ed in parte dopo tre giorni di permanenza a 20°C per seguirne la produzione di anidride carbonica e di etilene, il calo peso e valutare soggettivamente l'incidenza dei marciumi, l'imbrunimento interno ed il tempo medio impiegato per raggiungere la maturazione di consumo. Inoltre un gruppo di frutti posto a 20°C non è stato mai sconfezionato in modo da poter monitorare giornalmente l'evoluzione della composizione dell'atmosfera interna al confezionamento. II confezionamento con il film plastico ha contribuito in modo significativo alla riduzione delle perdite di peso. L'incidenza dei marciumi è stata molto contenuta in tutti i trattamenti ed è stata principalmente causata da antracnosi. II film plastico non ha esercitato alcuna influenza sullo sviluppo dei marciumi durante it periodo di frigoconservazione, ma nei frutti trasferiti a 20°C la presenza del film plastico ha favorito lo sviluppo della malattia. Molto efficace è stata l'azione del film plastico nel ridurre l'imbrunimento interno dei tessuti, espressione del danno da freddo, e tale influenza è diventata sempre più marcata con il procedere della frigoconservazione. Scarsa è stata l'influenza del film nel rallentare il processo di maturazione. Al contrario, a partire dalla 4a settimana di frigoconservazione i frutti confezionati hanno impiegato meno tempo per raggiungere lo stadio di maturazione di consumo rispetto ai frutti non confezionati, evidenziando una chiara azione positiva di riduzione delle alterazioni fisiologiche conseguenti all'esposizione alle basse temperature. All'interno dei confezionamenti non sono stati mai raggiunti valori di CO2 e di O2 tali da interferire sull'attività respiratoria o sulla produzione di etilene

Accomplice-Witness and Organized Crime: Theory and Evidence from Italy

We develop an agency model of organized crime accounting for the main trade-offs involved by the\ud introduction of an accomplice-witness program. We characterize the optimal policy and identify its main\ud determinants in a framework where public officials can be dishonest. Our predictions are tested by using\ud data for Italy before and after the introduction of the 1991 accomplice-witness program. As predicted by\ud the model and the earlier antitrust literature, the program appears to have strengthened deterrence and\ud enhanced prosecution. Moreover, consistently with a novel prediction of our theory, the evidence suggests\ud that the program efficacy is affected by the judicial system efficiency

Vitiligo and autoimmune thyroid disorders

Vitiligo represents the most common cause of acquired skin, hair and oral depigmentation, affecting 0.5-1% of the population worldwide. It is clinically characterized by the appearance of disfiguring circumscribed skin macules following melanocyte destruction by autoreactive cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Patients affected by vitiligo usually show a poorer quality of life and are more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms, particularly evident in dark-skinned individuals. Although vitiligo is a non-fatal disease, exposure of affected skin to UV light increases the chance of skin irritation and predisposes to skin cancer. In addition, vitiligo has been associated to other rare systemic disorders due to presence of melanocytes in other body districts, such as in the eyes, auditory, nervous and cardiac tissues, where melanocytes are thought to have roles different from that played in the skin. Several pathogenetic models have been proposed to explain vitiligo onset and progression, but clinical and experimental findings point mainly to the autoimmune hypothesis as the most qualified one. In this context, it is of relevance the strong association of vitiligo with other autoimmune diseases, in particular with autoimmune thyroid disorders, such as Hashimoto thyroiditis and Graves’ disease. In this review, after a brief overview of vitiligo and its pathogenesis, we will describe the clinical association between vitiligo and autoimmune thyroid disorders and discuss the possible underlying molecular mechanism(s)

Effect of TBZ, acetaldehyde, citral and <i>Thymus capitatus</i> essential oil on 'Minneola' tangelo fruit decay

Thiabendazole (TBZ), citral, acetaldehyde (AA), and Thymus capitatus essential oil-were tested for their ability to control decay on 'Minneola' tangelo fruit sprayed with a conidial suspension of Penicillium digitatum, either alone, or in combination with a low dose (100 ppm) of TBZ. TBZ at 2000 ppm was used as the standard. Thyme oil, citral and AA, all at 100 ppm (v/v), were applied under reduced pressure (0.6 bar) and heated to complete vaporisation. Control treatments were performed at normal and reduced pressure. Viability of fungal spores was checked by plating the rinsing water of three fruit per experimental plot on potato-dextrose agar dishes. A colony count was performed daily. All treatments significantly reduced the viability of the pathogen, TBZ at 2000 ppm being the best. The volatile compounds provided better control of the patbogen than TBZ at 100 ppm. Thus, T. capitatus oil, citral and AA could be of great interest in controlling postharvest disease of citrus fruits