Social rights and economic objectives: The importance of competition at supra national level

The need for a supra national model which embraces and provides for social rights of individual Member States is becoming more apparent amidst the ever intensifying integration process within the EU and its involvement in areas which have been undermined by an economic model. This paper considers why, despite such a need for a supra national model, the “ordo liberal European polity” is favoured. It partly does so, by way of reference to two judgements from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – namely, Laval un Partneri Ltd , and the Viking Cases

CANCRO TIROIDEO E AMBIENTE VULCANICO

Introduzione: L'aumentata incidenza del cancro tiroideo in diverse aree vulcaniche suggerisce una potenziale relazione tra l'ambiente e la contaminazione dei residenti con sostanze chimiche vulcaniche che hanno un effetto cancerogeno sulla tiroide. Disegno dello studio: abbiamo sviluppato tre fasi: 1) studio epidemiologico: paragone dell incidenza del cancro tiroideo nell area vulcanica dell Etna con quella di un area di controllo non vulcanica.; 2) studio ambientale: paragone delle concentrazioni di metalli pesanti e oligoelementi nelle acque del sistema acquifero dell Etna e dell area di controllo non vulcanica in Sicilia; 3) studio biologico: paragone delle concentrazioni di metalli pesanti e oligoelementi nelle urine dei residenti nell area vulcanica e dell area di controllo in Sicilia. Metodi: i dati di epidemiologia del cancro tiroideo sono stati estrapolati dal Registro Regionale Siciliano per il Cancro della Tiroide (periodo 2002-2006). In totale, 34 oligoelementi sono stati misurati nelle acque e nelle urine di 278 adulti residenti nell area vulcanica (n = 140 ) e nell area di controllo (n = 138). Risultati: l'incidenza del cancro tiroideo era superiore nella zona vulcanica (tasso di incidenza standardizzato per l età della popolazione mondiale= 18.5/105 vs 9.6/105 nella zona di controllo). Tale differenza era esclusivamente sostenuta da una maggiore incidenza di cancro tiroideo di istotipo papillare. Nella zona vulcanica i tumori erano più frequentemente multifocali e con estensione extratiroidea (p < 0.01). Gli elementi studiati sono stati trovati ad una concentrazione significativamente maggiore sia nelle acque che nelle urine dei residenti nell area vulcanica, suggerendo la possibilità di una biocontaminazione. In quest area le concentrazioni urinarie di Boro, Molibdeno, Tungsteno e Palladio erano superiori ai valori di riferimento per l Italia in oltre il 20% dei campioni analizzati. Conclusioni: nell area vulcanica dell Etna, caratterizzata da un elevata incidenza di cancro tiroideo, le concentrazioni di diversi oligoelementi e metalli pesanti sono significativamente aumentate nelle acque e nelle urine dei residenti. Questa associazione è compatibile (ma non dimostra) con una relazione di causa - effetto tra una o più di queste sostanze chimiche di origine vulcanica e il cancro tiroideo

Nuove prospettive nel trattamento dell'Hcc. Revisione della letteratura e casistica personale.

BACKGROUND: Il carcinoma epatocellulare è uno dei tumori maligni più comuni e letali nel mondo . Negli ultimi 15 anni, l'incidenza di carcinoma epatocellulare è più che raddoppiata . A causa della diagnosi tardiva e / o dell avanzato sottostante quadro di cirrosi epatica, sono disponibili solo opzioni di trattamento limitate con beneficio clinico marginale per il 70% dei pazienti . Nel corso degli ultimi decenni , nessuna terapia sistemica citotossica convenzionale era efficace, contribuendo alla prognosi infausta dei pazienti con HCC . Una migliore conoscenza dei fenomeni di epatocarcinogenesi molecolare offre oggi l'opportunità di terapie mirate. MATERIALI E METODI: Una ricerca della letteratura è stata effettuata utilizzando la letteratura cancro , la PubMed , Scopus e Web of Science ( WOS ) database per le seguenti parole chiave: "carcinoma epatocellulare" "epatocarcinogenesi molecolare", "terapia mirata" e "immunoterapia". DISCUSSIONE E CONCLUSIONI: Le decisioni terapeutiche sono complesse e dipendono dalla stadiazione del tumore, dalla presenza di ipertensione portale, e dal grado della disfunzione epatica di base. La conoscenza dei meccanismi molecolari di epatocarcinogenesi ha ampliato l'orizzonte per i pazienti con carcinoma epatocellulare avanzato. Negli ultimi anni, diversi agenti con preciso target molecolare sono stati valutati in studi clinici di carcinoma epatocellulare avanzato. In futuro, nuove opzioni terapeutiche saranno rappresentate da una miscela di vaccini immunoterapia-simili e modulatori delle cellule T, integrate da inibitori mirati di vie di signaling tumorale

Evidence of Nuclear Rainbow in the 16O + 27Al elastic scattering @ 280 MeV

In the present work the 16O + 27Al elastic scattering at 280 MeV incident energy is investigated. This study is inserted in the research line aiming at the investigation of the nuclear rainbow in the scattering process involving heavy nuclei. Nuclear rainbow is a peculiar phenomenon which reveals the nuclear interaction at small distances, where the projectile and target density overlaps can reach values up to twice the nuclear matter saturation value. The rainbow features were thought to be very unlikely for systems heavier than 16O + 16O because of the strong absorption, always present in heavy-ion collisions, which tends to hide the refractive component of the scattering process, responsible for the rainbow phenomenon. The experiment was performed at the Catania LNS-INFN laboratory using a 280 MeV energy 16O Cyclotron beam impinging on a 109 ug/cm2 thick 27Al target. The ejectiles were momentum analysed by the MAGNEX large acceptance magnetic spectrometer and detected by its Focal Plane Detector. In order to obtain wide elastic and inelastic angular distributions, five different angular settings were chosen, which covered a whole angular range from about 5° to about 40° in the laboratory reference frame. 27Al excitation energy spectra up to 85 MeV were extracted, showing the population of the ground state and low-lying excited states of the residual nucleus. In addition, the spectra measured at forward angles showed the population of large structures in a narrow angular range at relatively-high excitation energy, corresponding to the excitation of collective modes of the target nucleus, i.e. Monopole and Quadrupole Giant Resonances. Then, elastic and inelastic cross section angular distributions were constructed for each angular setting. A model independent data analysis was performed. The total elastic 16O + 27Al angular distribution was fitted using exponential functions in three different angular ranges. This procedure made it possible to better appreciate the systematic deviation of the data with respect to the rapid exponential decrease expected for a strong absorptive system. The rise of the cross section observed at the largest scattering angles is the evidence of a well developed nuclear rainbow structure for the investigated system. The elastic and inelastic angular distributions were then compared with a new generation of parameter-free calculations based on the Coupled Channel (CC) formalism, using the Sao Paulo potential (SPP). The calculations were performed with the computer code FRESCO. A good agreement with the data was obtained using a reduced real component of the nucleus-nucleus potential and adopting the weak coupling model. In such a model, the 27Al ground state and the first low lying excited states (1/2+ , 3/2+ , 5/2+ , 7/2+ , 9/2+) were described as a 1d5/2 proton hole coupled with the 28Si 0+ ground state and 2+ (1.779 MeV) excited state, respectively. The effect of the inclusion in the calculation of other 28Si excited states was also investigated in a preliminary way

Uso di biomasse di scarto dell'attività agro-industriale per il miglioramento della produzione agricola

Durante il dottorato di ricerca in PRODUTTIVITÁ DELLE PIANTE COLTIVATE IN AMBIENTE MEDITERRANEO (XXVI ciclo) sono stati preparati ed analizzati quattro estratti in KOH delle seguenti matrici organiche: 1. residuo di estrazione di olio da Brassica (Napus L.); 2. residuo di estrazione di olio da Ricino (Ricinus communis L.); 3. residuo di estrazione di olio da Panello di lino (Linum usitatissimum L.); 4. digestato ottenuto dalla produzione di biogas, in un'azienda agro-zootecnica. Di questi estratti organici è stata valutata l'attività biostimolante, attraverso l'applicazione di un biosaggio (test Audus) e l allevamento di plantule di Zea mays L. (in soluzione nutritiva Hoagland). Le prove sono state condotte utilizzando diverse concentrazioni degli estratti alcalini allo scopo di studiare il loro effetto sul metabolismo fito-ormonale della pianta. Sono state, inoltre, prese in considerazione, altre sostanze organiche biosolubili (SOS) e le loro frazioni insolubili (ROI), ottenute per mezzo di estrazione alcalina a caldo, da rifiuti di diversa origine. Di questi estratti organici è stata valutata l'attività biostimolante, attraverso la coltivazione di plantule di Phaseolus vulgaris

Data mining techniques on volcano monitoring

The aim of this thesis is the study of data mining process able to discover implicit information from huge amount of data. In particular, indexing of datasets is studied to speed the efficiency of search algorithm. All of the presented techniques are applied in geophysical research field where the huge amount of data hide implicit information related to volcanic processes and their evolution over time. Data mining techniques, reported in details in the next chapters, are implemented with the aim of recurrent patterns analysis from heterogeneous data. This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 introduces the problem of searching in a metric space, showing the key applications (from text retrieval to computational biology and so on) and the basic concepts (e.g. metric distance function). The current solutions, together with a model for standardization, are presented in Chapter 2. A novel indexing structure, the K-Pole Tree, that uses a dynamic number of pivots to partition a metric space, is presented in Chapter 3, after a taxonomy of the state-of-the-art indexing algorithm. Experimental effectiveness of K-Pole Tree is compared to other efficient algorithms in Chapter 4, where proximity queries results are showed. In Chapter 5 a basic review of pattern recognition techniques is reported. In particular, DBSCAN Algorithm and SVM (Support Vector Machines) are discussed. Finally, Chapter 6 shows some geophysical applications where data mining techniques are applied for volcano data analysis and surveillance purpose. In particular, an application for clustering infrasound signals and another to index an thermal image database are presented

Embodied Autism An integrated approach through Psychology, Pedagogy and Neuroscience

Starting moving from the meeting ground of Neuroscience, Psychology and Pedagogy, my paper is aimed at interpreting autism under a new perspective provided by a change of paradigm in the cognitive sciences. Such paradigm favours a point of view of the embodiment type, which ascribes a great value to body and to sensory-motor system. Furthermore it analyses thoroughly mind in its multifaceted dimensions: embodied, embedded, extended, enacted. Such paradigm acquires a very peculiar meaning when applied to autism and to the austistic individual, embodied in a body and deep rooted in the environment, who not only takes a different view of the world, but perceives, assimilates, introjectes and develops it through sensory-perceptive peculiarities. Such peculiarities active the underlying cognitive and neural process and influence the general development

Definizione di un "codice di pratica" per la sicurezza e la conservazione dell'edilizia rurale tradizionale nell'area etnea

In Italia, l'edilizia rurale tradizionale costituisce un patrimonio architettonico, storico e culturale da preservare e tramandare alle generazioni future. In particolare, il presente lavoro, ha posto l'attenzione sui fabbricati rurali di tipo tradizionale dell'area etnea, realizzati con tecniche costruttive e materiali radicati nel contesto territoriale di appartenenza che caratterizzano fortemente il "genius loci". Gli interventi atti a preservare e migliorare tali edifici, di conseguenza, consentono di salvaguardare la valenza paesaggistica ed ambientale del territorio in cui essi sorgono. Le attività di studio ed analisi delle tecniche di costruzione tradizionale e dei materiali impiegati hanno costituito una fase propedeutica alla individuazione degli interventi di recupero e conservazione e di miglioramento sismico più appropriati per gli edifici rurali tradizionali dell'area presa in esame. Le schede tecniche proposte per gli interventi sugli elementi strutturali e decorativi dei fabbricati rurali rilevati sono rispettose delle tecniche costruttive e dei materiali impiegati e, soprattutto, del valore estetico degli edifici. L impostazione grafica di tali schede, inoltre, è stata studiata con l obiettivo di agevolare la scelta dell intervento più appropriato. Infine, l applicazione numerica per il calcolo dei coefficienti di sicurezza relativi a un edificio campione, tra quelli rilevati, soggetto a meccanismo di collasso di primo modo ha rappresentato un applicazione finalizzata all individuazione di interventi di miglioramento del livello di sicurezza coerenti con quanto dettato dalle Norme Tecniche per le Costruzioni (D.M. 14 gennaio 2008) e dalla relativa Circolare (n. 617/2009)

Uwb-based real-time location system performances for cow identification and localisation and cow's location data analysis and management in free-stall barns

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the localisation and identification performances of a Real-Time Location System (RTLS) based on Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology within a free-stall barn which represents a particularly harsh environment for the functioning of this kind of system. Each dairy cow was equipped with an active tag applied to one ear. A video-recording system was installed in the barn to perform the assessment of the RTLS. Top-view camera images of the area of the barn under study were rectified and synchronised with the RTLS. Each position of the cow computed by the RTLS was validated by performing cow visual recognition on the camera images. To perform this validation a software specifically designed for the purpose was utilized. It is a quick, accurate, automatic and interactive tool which includes selection and control tabs for data management, visualization and labelling of the images with the aim of the computation of the tag true positions. Localisation and identification performances of the RTLS were assessed by applying an outlier data cleaning technique to tag localisation errors and using precision and sensitivity indices. Trade-off between these performances was found through the computation of three performance metrics. The results showed that, in the environmental conditions of the barn, the RTLS produced errors which were comparable to the errors declared by the RTLS producer for the fixed reference tag whereas localisation errors related to the tags in movement were higher and, in detail, a mean error of 0.56 m and an error at the 90th percentile of 1.03 m were obtained. Outlier data cleaning produced significant improvements of the results by reducing the average localisation error of about 0.046 m for the cows tags and made data distribution more homogeneous. Trade-off of RTLS performances yielded an average localisation error equal to about 0.52 m with a position accuracy of 98% for cows tag and an error of about 0.11 m with a nearly 100% accuracy for the reference tag. RTLS performances in the considered environment proved to be generally not dependent on cow behaviour, as it is observed for other systems, and that RTLS is suitable to determine the occupancy level of the different functional areas of the barn, compute cow behavioural indices, and track each animal of the herd. An automatic and real-time software tool for the visual analysis of the cows location data in free-stall barns acquired by the RTLS was designed and developed. A visual representation used for visualizing two dimensional data of each cow using colours was implemented as a functionality of this tool. The different colour and colour intensity denoted the difference in sample density at a location. Measurement of the instant speed of each cow over the time, represented through an interactive graph, was another functionality implemented in this software. The results obtained by a use case of this software tool, which was carried out in order to acquire useful informations related to the occurrence of estrus, showed that a pattern, related to the behaviour of the cow analyzed, can be identified when the state of estrus occurs. Moreover, since it was designed to monitor cow behavior in real time, it offers the ability, by adding new control modules, to notify any inconvenience through alert messages as a result of changes in dairy cow behaviour and, therefore, it is possible to alert the farmer in real time

The Effect of Emotions and Imagery Appeals on Visual Consumption Experiences

There is currently a mismatch between our traditional models of consumer decision-making and the way consumers actually make decisions, at least for certain product categories. Multi-attribute models have been successful in modeling how consumers make decisions about frequently purchased products or services, where decision-making proceeds rationally. But these models cannot account for decisions in which less experience is available, where the problem is not well-structured, and where emotional reactions are important. Whereas traditional models assume verbal and semantic processes, the consumption vision perspective focuses on visual and imaginal processing. The consumption vision approach explicitly acknowledges creative sense-making processes consumers use to anticipate the future. A consumption vision can be defined as a visual image of certain product-related behaviors and their consequences on decision-making processes. Consumption visions consist of concrete and vivid mental images that enable consumers to experience self-relevant consequences of product use. Based on the findings of several studies on consumption visions and on the role of anticipated emotions in consumption experiences, the goal of this study is to understand what triggers consumption visions, and consequently, in what direction consumption visions influence consumers decision making processes. I suggest that forming a consumption vision is one possible heuristic by which a consumer can decide among alternative courses of action. I discuss the possible effects of consumption visions on consumers cognitive and affective reactions to products, intentions, and behaviors. Three studies examine the mediating role of imagery accessibility during consumption experiences and demonstrate that the difficulty of imagery generation can reverse the generally observed positive effects on imagery appeals and consumption decisions. The same results indeed, can be achieved considering consumers predisposition to emotional experiences. When participants are low in imagery abilities (as well as when they show low need for emotion attitudes), whether there is or not an explicit invitation to imagine a consumption experience, or whether the product is present in a vivid manner or not, imagery appeals are not only ineffective, but even have a negative effect on product preferences. Moreover, this work aims to demonstrate that imagery fluency effect, given its subjective nature, is more likely for individuals with richer personal past experiences or with higher predisposition to use imagination (higher in need for emotions levels). Finally, I discuss how consumer researchers can integrate consumption visions into decision-making research