The Ideal Candidate. Analysis of Professional Competences through Text Mining of Job Offers

The aim of this paper is to propose analytical tools for identifying peculiar aspects of job market for graduates. We propose a strategy for dealing with daa tat have different source and nature

Quantum theory of fluctuations in a cold damped accelerometer

We present a quantum network approach to real high sensitivity measurements. Thermal and quantum fluctuations due to active as well as passive elements are taken into account. The method is applied to the analysis of the capacitive accelerometer using the cold damping technique, developed for fundamental physics in space by ONERA and the ultimate limits of this instrument are discussed. It is confirmed in this quantum analysis that the cold damping technique allows one to control efficiently the test mass motion without degrading the noise level.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX; Minor change

Role of Interleukin-18 in vascular injury: a new pharmacological target for the prevention of restenosis

Background: Studies in humans as well as in animal models suggest that interleukin-18 (IL-18) plays a crucial role in vascular pathologies. IL-18 is a strong predictor of cardiovascular death in angina and is involved in atherotic plaque destabilization. Higher IL-18 plasma levels are also associated with restenosis after coronary artery angioplasty performed in patients with acute myocardial infarction. We investigated the effective role of IL-18 in neointima formation in a rat model of vascular injury, known as balloon angioplasty. Methods and Results: Endothelial denudation of the left carotid artery was performed by using a balloon embolectomy catheter. Increased expression of IL-18 and IL-18Rα/β mRNA was detectable in carotid arteries from day 2 to 14 after angioplasty. The active form of IL-18 was highly expressed in injured arteries. Strong immunoreactivity for IL-18 was detected in the medial smooth muscle cells at day 2 and 7 after balloon injury and in proliferating/migrating smooth muscle cells in neointima at day 14. Moreover, serum concentrations of IL-18 were significantly higher among rats subjected to vascular injury. Rats treatment with neutralizing rabbit anti-rat IL-18 IgG significantly reduced by 27% (P<0.01) neointima formation. In addition, IL-18 neutralization reduced number of proliferating cells, inhibited IFN-γ, IL-6, IL-8 mRNA expression and nuclear factor-κB activation in injured arteries. Conclusions: These results identify for the first time a critical role for IL-18 in neointima formation in a rat model of vascular injury and suggest a potential role for IL-18 neutralization in reduction of neointima development and progression

L'8 settembre 1943 e la Regia "fascistissima" Aeronautica

L’8 settembre 1943, dopo la sorpresa generale della proclamazione dell’armistizio, la fuga dei regnanti e lo sfaldamento delle forze armate, ciascun italiano fu chiamato a decidere se essere fedele al legittimo governo trasferitosi a Brindisi ovvero al nuovo movimento fascista repubblicano, che avrebbe stabilito la sua sede a Salò; essere alleato militare del vecchio nemico angloamericano, ovvero essere nemico del vecchio alleato tedesco. Il presente articolo, proprio in relazione a quanto accadde nei giorni immediatamente successivi la proclamazione della resa, propone una riflessione generale sull’aggettivazione di “fascistissima” data alla Regia Aeronautica e una riflessione specifica sul legame tra il personale aeronautico di vertice e il regime fascista. A tal fine verrà analizzata specifica documentazione contenuta nelle 181 buste costituenti il fondo “Discriminati Gen”, custodito presso l’Ufficio Sto

The Insurability of Punitive Damages in Washington: Should Insureds Who Engage in Intentional Misconduct Reap the Benefit of Their Bargains?

This Note examines the issue of the insurability of punitive damages, concluding that insurance coverage should not be allowed for punitive damages arising from intentional misconduct because such coverage contravenes public policy in the state of Washington. Part I defines and provides background for punitive damages and malicious prosecution. Part II outlines and synthesizes the treatment of the insurability of punitive damages in various states. The facts of the Fluke case, including the Court of Appeals\u27s rationale that insurance coverage for punitive damages is not against public policy in Washington, are detailed in Part III. The next section reveals the Court of Appeals\u27s faulty reasoning, illuminating several reasons why Washington should prohibit insurance coverage for punitive damages arising out of intentional misconduct. Part V summarizes the Washington Supreme Court\u27s decision affirming the appellate court on the issue of whether insuring punitive damages is against public policy in Washington. This Note concludes in Part VI that punitive damages assessed for intentional misconduct should not be insurable in Washington as a mat- ter of public policy and that the Washington Supreme Court should have reversed the appellate court on this issue

The Insurability of Punitive Damages in Washington: Should Insureds Who Engage in Intentional Misconduct Reap the Benefit of Their Bargains?

This Note examines the issue of the insurability of punitive damages, concluding that insurance coverage should not be allowed for punitive damages arising from intentional misconduct because such coverage contravenes public policy in the state of Washington. Part I defines and provides background for punitive damages and malicious prosecution. Part II outlines and synthesizes the treatment of the insurability of punitive damages in various states. The facts of the Fluke case, including the Court of Appeals\u27s rationale that insurance coverage for punitive damages is not against public policy in Washington, are detailed in Part III. The next section reveals the Court of Appeals\u27s faulty reasoning, illuminating several reasons why Washington should prohibit insurance coverage for punitive damages arising out of intentional misconduct. Part V summarizes the Washington Supreme Court\u27s decision affirming the appellate court on the issue of whether insuring punitive damages is against public policy in Washington. This Note concludes in Part VI that punitive damages assessed for intentional misconduct should not be insurable in Washington as a mat- ter of public policy and that the Washington Supreme Court should have reversed the appellate court on this issue

Consciousness and Perceptual Attention: A Methodological Argument

Our perception of external features comprises, among others, functional and phenomenological levels. At the functional level, the perceiver’s mind processes external features according to its own causal- functional organization. At the phenomenological level, the perceiver has consciousness of external features. The question of this paper is: How do the functional and the phenomenological levels of perception relate to each other? The answer I propose is that functional states of specifically perceptual attention constitute the necessary basis for the arising of consciousness in a perceiver. Widely studied within cognitive psychology, perceptual attention is still awaiting a thoroughgoing philosophical treatment. The paper presents and draws upon Anne Treisman’s feature-integration theory of attention (cf. A. Treisman & G. Gelade, “A Feature-Integration Theory of Attention,” Cognitive Psychology, 12, 1980. Pp. 97-136). According to this theory, attentional mechanisms are responsible for the binding of perceptual features into coherent and stable objects of perception. By itself, I will claim, the theory of feature integration does not allow a straightforward reduction of consciousness to the functional processing underlying it. However, on the basis of Treisman’s theory we can produce a methodological argument for endorsing the non-reductivist thesis that attentional states constitute the necessary basis for the arising of consciousness in a perceiver. The paper closes by presenting this argument, according to which the thesis is implied by a unified account of the common representational natures of attentional and conscious states