Same-Sex Marriage and Other Moral Taboos: Cultural Acceptances, Change in American Public Opinion and the Evidence from the Opinion Polls

This article analyzes the evolution of gay and lesbian rights and same-sex marriage in American public opinion. It describes how Obergefell v. Hodges, state-level decisions and the public opinion trends can be considered as the outcome of a grassroots coordinated campaign which began more than a decade ago and was able to conquer the majority of Americans. It also focuses on the American public opinion trends related to moral issues, examining if it is true that U.S. citizens are moving leftward. The research shows that the shift toward more liberal attitudes on a number of social values and issues has occurred across the age spectrum, not just among young people, and that when Americans are asked about moral values they are thinking of things other than just the norms surrounding sexual behavior and reproduction issues. Thus, when Americans are largely saying that the overall moral tone of their culture is in bad shape and getting worse, they are only marginally thinking of former taboos such as gay and lesbian marriage and sexual behaviors in general

The Relationship between Economic Performance and the Rise of \u2018Unholy Alliances\u2019 in the European Union

This article investigates the phenomenon of \u2018unholy alliances\u2019: grand coalitions and ideologically-incoherent coalitions in the EU. In the last decade, these types of government majorities have proliferated, even in countries that have not previously experienced them. This substantial increase happened during the years of the so-called Great Recession, together with the electoral growth of populist movements and new political parties. This article investigates the potential correlation between these \u2018unholy alliances\u2019 and the economic situation of countries. The hypothesis is that negative economic trends might have led to fragmented electoral results, a decrease in the support for mainstream parties and the growth of populist parties and new parties. This generated additional difficulties in forming homogeneous coalitions, forcing the birth of these unholy alliances

Vice presidential candidates in the American presidential elections: strategies for selection and effects

American vice presidential candidates are chosen for several reasons. Some of these rationales are easy to be recognized, while others belong to the cockles of the heart of the presidential candidates. Social scientists and journalists agree about the factors that are more essential: the vice presidential (VP) nominee\u2019s capacity of balancing the ideological and personal characteristics of the presidential candidate and the \u201cnative son\u201d effect, namely the guarantee that the VP nominee would carry his/her own state. These strategies are often combined and they work at different electoral levels: the first one has usually a national or macro-regional significance while the second is crucial in the battleground states. This research is divided into two sections: the first one investigates the \u201cbalancing the ticket\u201d strategy, offering an overview of about one century of presidential races. The second aims to verify the VP nominee\u2019s effect in his/her home state. The results will confirm that there have been several running mates who have been selected in order to \u201cbalance the ticket\u201d but also that the vice president nominee\u2019s effect in the home states has been quite poor.American vice presidential candidates are chosen for several reasons. Some of these rationales are easy to be recognized, while others belong to the cockles of the heart of the presidential candidates. Social scientists and journalists agree about the factors that are more essential: the vice presidential (VP) nominee\u2019s capacity of balancing the ideological and personal characteristics of the presidential candidate and the \u201cnative son\u201d effect, namely the guarantee that the VP nominee would carry his/her own state. These strategies are often combined and they work at different electoral levels: the first one has usually a national or macro-regional significance while the second is crucial in the battleground states. This research is divided into two sections: the first one investigates the \u201cbalancing the ticket\u201d strategy, offering an overview of about one century of presidential races. The second aims to verify the VP nominee\u2019s effect in his/her home state. The results will confirm that there have been several running mates who have been selected in order to \u201cbalance the ticket\u201d but also that the vice president nominee\u2019s effect in the home states has been quite poor

Globally simple Heffter arrays and orthogonal cyclic cycle decompositions

In this paper we introduce a particular class of Heffter arrays, called globally simple Heffter arrays, whose existence gives at once orthogonal cyclic cycle decompositions of the complete graph and of the cocktail party graph. In particular we provide explicit constructions of such decompositions for cycles of length $k\leq 10$. Furthermore, starting from our Heffter arrays we also obtain biembeddings of two $k$-cycle decompositions on orientable surfaces.Comment: The present version also considers the problem of biembedding

A problem on partial sums in abelian groups

In this paper we propose a conjecture concerning partial sums of an arbitrary finite subset of an abelian group, that naturally arises investigating simple Heffter systems. Then, we show its connection with related open problems and we present some results about the validity of these conjectures

Integrazione di celle solari di terza generazione nel vetromattone per la realizzazione di involucri edilizi traslucidi fotovoltaici

L’integrazione di celle solari di terza generazione - Dye-sensitised Solar Cells (DSSC) - nel vetromattone consente di ottenere un prodotto edilizio in grado di generare energia pulita, personalizzabile in termini di colore, livelli di trasparenza e fi niture, adatto alla realizzazione di componenti edilizi fotovoltaici, traslucidi e multifunzionali, facilmente integrabili nelle chiusure degli edifi ci per la costruzione di involucri edilizi energeticamente effi cienti ed attivi anche in contesti climatici avversi, quali possono essere quelli del Mediterraneo e delle aree subtropicali. L’articolo illustra 4 differenti ipotesi di integrazione delle DSSC nel vetromattone fornendo, per ciascuna, una stima della produzione fotovoltaica e delle performance energetiche (termiche ed ottiche). Anche gli aspetti relativi al sistema di assemblaggio “a secco” dei vetromattoni modifi cati tramite l’integrazione delle DSSC, per la realizzazione dei componenti edilizi fotovoltaici, vengono qui illustrati in uno ad alcune rifl essioni sulla necessità di ripensare il fotovoltaico nell’ottica della building integration.The integration of third generation Dye-sensitised Solar Cells (DSSC) with the glassblock allows to obtain a building product able to produce clean energy, customizable in terms of colours, transparency levels and fi nishing, for the assembly of multifunctional, translucent and photovoltaic building components, which can be easily integrated for the construction of energy effi cient and active building envelopes also in adverse climate areas, such as the Mediterranean and subtropical zones. The paper illustrates 4 different hypotheses of integration of the DSSC with the glassblock and for each provides an evaluation of photovoltaic production and energy performance (thermal and optical). The aspects related to the dry assembly system of the DSSC-integrated glassblocks for the construction of the photovoltaic building components will also be illustrated, together with some considerations about the necessity of rethinking photovoltaic at the prospect of building integration

Energy Optimization of BIPV Glass Blocks: A Multi-software Study

Abstract The aim of this paper is to show the results of the performance analyses carried out on four patented glass block configurations integrated with third-generation Dye-sensitized Solar Cell (DSC) modules. The analyses take into account the thermal, optical and electrical performance by using three different software (COMSOL Multiphysics, WINDOW, Zemax), also enabling to take into consideration the peculiar three-dimensional geometry of this innovative glazed product. Starting from these results, new configurations improved as for the thermal insulation, are also introduced and studied, in order to make further considerations about the applicability of this building component for the construction of energy-saving and generating building envelopes

Innovative Photovoltaic Translucent Components for the Building Envelope

International directives that regulates buildings energy efficiency and environmental sustainability establish strict parameters for the construction of a new generation of “Zero Energy Buildings” indicating transmittance limits for building envelope components and encouraging the use of renewable sources. In this sense, the PV sector aims at the definition of novel efficient solutions for the integration in the building envelope, standing out for their multifunctional features. After an overview on the main PV technologies and building integrated applications, focusing on semi-transparent envelope solutions, the paper shows the results of a research that is being carried out at the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo, aimed to define innovative solutions for the construction of photovoltaic and energy efficient translucent building envelopes. In particular, the research focuses on the optimization of glassblock panels in terms of thermal insulation, light transmittance, energy production and mechanical resistance. New configurations of glassblock were designed in order to reduce its U value and integrate 3rd generation PV technologies for the production of green energy. Furthermore, a dry assembly system has been designed for the construction of translucent prestressed panels made of DSC integrated glassblocks that are able to guarantee high levels of resistance to horizontal actions and to build translucent, photovoltaic and efficient building envelopes even in dry, tropical and temperate areas or in unfavourable light conditions