Le strategie di internazionalizzazione delle imprese distrettuali: un'analisi comparata di tre diversi sistemi locali di produzione in Emilia Romagna

Since the Nineties, the process of globalization has caused a sharp increase in the real and financial integration of the worldwide economy, reducing the obstacles to international trade and minimizing the cost of transaction. The entrance of foreign firms in the domestic market has deeply modified the competitive situation of Italian enterprises, which have been forced to change their strategies in order to cope with those of the new competitors. In this scenario, internationalization is no longer one of the different strategic options available for the firm, but it becomes a forced choice to maintain or acquire a competitive advantage sustainable over time. Internationalization strategies of SMEs, however, are hindered by the shortage of financial resources and entrepreneurial skills, therefore this kind of firms tends toward light forms of foreign expansion, like export and subcontracting. Despite this, many studies have demonstrated that the district localisation increases the firms’ productivity and innovative capacity, so their competiveness both at a domestic and international level. The majority of these empirical contributions has focused mainly on the analysis of commercial flows, confirming that district enterprises reach a superior international performance compared to their external competitors. On the contrary, only few works have tried to evaluate the existence of a district effect on the firms’ ability to invest abroad, but the obtained results are not straightforward. One of the reason of these conclusions is that the phenomena has been analysed without taking into account the differences existing between districts in terms of enterprises’ dimension, diffusion of industrial groups and, above all, the sector of productive specialization, because the technological content of production could improve the innovativeness of district firms, allowing them to adopt advanced forms of internationalisation as foreign direct investments (FDI). The aim of the thesis is to further investigate the district effect on internationalisation, trough an econometric analysis of the international strategies carried out by firms localised in three different local system of production characterised by different technological specialization.

Tumori primitivi multipli del polmone. Profilo clinico e biologico in pazienti affetti da neoplasie polmonari multiple. Analisi di elementi clinici e marcatori biologici come possibili fattori di differenziazione dei tumori polmonari multipli

Background: MPLC represents a diagnostic challenge. Topic of the discussion is how to distinguish these patients as a metastatic or a multifocal disease. While in case of the different histology there are less doubt on the opposite in case of same histology is mandatory to investigate on other clinical features to rule out this question. Matherials and Methods: A retrospective review identified all patients treated surgically for a presumed diagnosis of SPLC. Pre-operative staging was obtained with Total CT scan and fluoro-deoxy positron emission tomography and mediastinoscopy. Patients with nodes interest or extra-thoracic location were excluded from this study. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression with complete immunohistochemical analisis was evaluated. Survival was estimated using Kaplan-Meyer method, and clinical features were estimated using a long-rank test or Cox proportional hazards model for categorical and continuous variable, respectively. Results: According to American College Chest Physician, 18 patients underwent to surgical resection for a diagnosis of MPLC. Of these, 8 patients had 3 or more nodules while 10 patients had less than 3 nodules. Pathologic examination demonstrated that 13/18(70%) of patients with multiple histological types was Adenocarcinoma, 2/18(10%) Squamous carcinoma, 2/18(10%) large cell carcinoma and 1/18(5%) Adenosquamosu carcinoma. Expression of EGFR has been evaluated in all nodules: in 7 patients of 18 (38%) the percentage of expression of each nodule resulted different. Conclusions: MPLC represent a multifocal disease where interactions of clinical informations with biological studies reinforce the diagnosis. EGFR could contribute to differentiate the nodules. However, further researches are necessary to validate this hypothesis.

Open source intelligence applicata all'analisi criminologica del terrorismo

A partire dagli anni '70, si è assistito ad un progressivo riassetto geopolitico a livello mondiale Grazie anche all’evoluzione tecnologica ed alla sua diffusione di massa, il tempo e lo spazio si contraggono nel processo di globalizzazione che ha caratterizzato le società contemporanee ove l'informazione e la comunicazione assumono ormai un ruolo centrale nelle dinamiche di conoscenza. Il presente studio, intende far luce in primis sulla disciplina dell'intelligence, così come enunciata in ambito militare e "civile", in particolare nel contesto USA, NATO ed ONU, al fine quindi di evidenziare le peculiarità di una nuova disciplina di intelligence, cosiddetta Open Source Intelligence, che ha come elemento di innovazione l'utilizio delle informazioni non classificate. Dopo aver affrontato il problema della concettualizzazione ed evoluzione del fenomeno terroristico, sarà posto il focus sull’espressione criminale ad oggi maggiormente preoccupante, il terrorismo internazionale di matrice islamica, in prospettiva multidimensionale, grazie all’adozione di concetti criminologici interdisciplinari. Sotto il profilo della sperimentazione, si è, quindi, deciso di proporre, progettare e sviluppare l’architettura della piattaforma Open Source Intellicence Analysis Platform,un tool operativo di supporto per l’analista Open Source Intelligence, che si pone quale risorsa del’analisi criminologica, in grado di fornire un valido contributo, grazie al merge tra practice e research, nell’applicazione di tale approccio informativo al fenomeno terroristico.

Ruolo delle specie reattive dell'ossigeno e di caveole/raft lipidici nella biosegnalazione in linee cellulari umane

Membrane lipid rafts are detergent-resistant microdomains containing glycosphingolipids, cholesterol and glycosylphosphatidylinositol-linked proteins; they seem to be actively involved in many cellular processes including signal transduction, apoptosis, cell adhesion and migration. Lipid rafts may represent important functional platforms where redox signals are produced and transmitted in response to various agonists or stimuli. In addition, a new concept is emerging that could be used to define the interactions or amplification of both redox signalling and lipid raft-associated signalling. This concept is characterized by redox-mediated feed forward amplification in lipid platforms. It is proposed that lipid rafts are formed in response to various stimuli; for instance, NAD(P)H oxidase (Nox) subunits are aggregated or recruited in these platforms, increasing Nox activity. Superoxide and hydrogen peroxide generation could induce various regulatory activities, such as the induction of glucose transport activity and proliferation in leukaemia cells. The aim of our study is to probe: i) the involvement of lipid rafts in the modulation of the glucose transporter Glut1 in human acute leukemia cells; ii) the involvement of plasma membrane caveolae/lipid rafts in VEGF-mediated redox signaling via Nox activation in human leukemic cells; iii) the role of p66shc, an adaptor protein, in VEGF signaling and ROS production in endothelial cells (ECs); iv) the role of Sindecan-2, a transmembrane heparan sulphate proteoglycan, in VEGF signaling and physiological response in ECs and v) the antioxidant and pro-apoptotic activities of simple dietary phenolic acids, i. e. caffeic, syringic and protocatechuic acids in leukemia cells, characterized by a very high ROS content. Our results suggest that the role played by NAD(P)H oxidase-derived ROS in the regulation of glucose uptake, proliferation and migration of leukaemia and endothelial cells could likely occur through the control of lipid raft-associated signalling.

Tecniche MonteCarlo per l'analisi di sistemi a rete

The assessment of the RAMS (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) performances of system generally includes the evaluations of the “Importance” of its components and/or of the basic parameters of the model through the use of the Importance Measures. The analytical equations proposed in this study allow the estimation of the first order Differential Importance Measure on the basis of the Birnbaum measures of components, under the hypothesis of uniform percentage changes of parameters. The aging phenomena are introduced into the model by assuming exponential-linear or Weibull distributions for the failure probabilities. An algorithm based on a combination of MonteCarlo simulation and Cellular Automata is applied in order to evaluate the performance of a networked system, made up of source nodes, user nodes and directed edges subjected to failure and repair. Importance Sampling techniques are used for the estimation of the first and total order Differential Importance Measures through only one simulation of the system “operational life”. All the output variables are computed contemporaneously on the basis of the same sequence of the involved components, event types (failure or repair) and transition times. The failure/repair probabilities are forced to be the same for all components; the transition times are sampled from the unbiased probability distributions or it can be also forced, for instance, by assuring the occurrence of at least a failure within the system operational life. The algorithm allows considering different types of maintenance actions: corrective maintenance that can be performed either immediately upon the component failure or upon finding that the component has failed for hidden failures that are not detected until an inspection; and preventive maintenance, that can be performed upon a fixed interval. It is possible to use a restoration factor to determine the age of the component after a repair or any other maintenance action.

Comportamento elastodinamico di meccanismi in catena chiusa bilanciati: analisi numerica e sperimentale di un quadrilatero articolato

The study presented in this work deals with the investigation of the effects produced by two common techniques of static balancing on the dynamic performances of closed-chain linkages, taking into account the compliance of the mechanism components. The long-term goal of the research consists in determining an optimal balancing strategy for parallel spatial manipulators. The present contribution is a starting point and it focuses on the planar four-bar linkage, intended as the simplest example of closed-chain mechanism. The elastodynamic behaviour of an unbalanced four-bar linkage and two balanced ones, respectively obtained by mass and elastic balancing, is investigated by means of both numerical simulations and experimental tests. The purpose of this work is to obtain preliminary results, to be refined and broadened in future developments

Evoluzioni e tendenze dei consumi alimentari delle famiglie italiane - Analisi delle decisioni di consumo attraverso il modello Almost Ideal

Il problema affrontato nel lavoro riguarda l'allocazione della spesa tra gruppi di beni alimentari (domestici ed extra-domestici) e le modificazioni che tale allocazione ha subito nell’arco dell’ultimo decennio. L’obiettivo principale dell'analisi proposta è, quindi, di spiegare come variazioni della quota di spesa destinata alle componenti del consumo alimentare siano attribuibili a fattori strettamente economici, oltre che alle caratteristiche struttura socio-demografiche dei consumatori. Allo scopo di valutare l’allocazione inter-temporale della spesa individuale viene proposto come schema di analisi il sistema di domanda Almost Ideal di Deaton e Muellbauer (AIDS).

Studio analitico della cultura materiale fra VII e IX secolo d.C. nella Regione di Samarcanda (Uzbekistan): analisi morfo-tipologica, produzione e commercio della ceramica di Kafir Kala

Kafir Kala is a key-site to understand the historical dynamics of the Samarkand Region in the Early Middle Ages (5th - 8th centuries CE). The site is clearly associated with a Sogdian occupation, as both literature and archaeological research testify. But the chronological phase that follows the Sogdian period, as the Islamic occupation became stable, is still little known. Structures and finds (an hoard of 133 silver coins, in particular) clearly testify a new occupation of some parts of the citadel; and some rooms, dug in the northern side of it, present structures and materials connected with an Islamic activity. The study of material culture from these rooms, and from more ancient contexts, will help to understand the eventual continuity of traditions and the new productions. Besides the citadel, as a matter of fact, also some kilns have been dug, near the main site. Their material culture is very interesting because it represents an example of the typical Sogdian production (ceramics covered with white mica, and stamped). The work on the ceramic material has consisted in cataloguing and classifying all the diagnostics. Three main morphological classes have been individuated: cooking, coarse and table ware), and some other ones (lamps, ossuaries). A catalogue of the finds organized them in a typological system based on their morphology, function, fabric, and eventually decoration style. Crossing the stratigraphical data with information from this typological study, it has been possible to provide a chronological arrangement of the sites investigated by the italo-uzbek archaeological mission from 2001 to 2008.

L'imposizione diretta dei redditi del lavoro autonomo: analisi comparata della disciplina italiana, francese, convenzionale e comunitaria

Les théories du post-industrialisation utilisent comme une preuve empirique du changement du processus historique l’entrée dans une nouvelle structure sociale que, par ailleurs, se distingue par le déplacement des biens et des services et par la formation de nouvelles structures professionnelles et de la gestion. Dans ce contexte, en premier lieu, c’est très intéressant à comprendre comme les nouvelles formes de l’organisation économique et sociale ont reussies à influer sur les systèmes de la fiscalité directe de l’État italien et de l’État français à la formation et au perfectionnement de la notion de revenu du travail indépendant et aussi à la formation et au perfectionnement des modèles de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant. Par conséquent, la recherche, dans le principe, se concentre sur le processus de la construction et de l’évolution de la notion de revenu du travail indépendant et aussi de la construction et de l’évolution des formes nationales de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant; un processus dévelopé au cours de l’Époque Moderne et de l’Époque Contemporaine que, du point de vue historique-fiscale, s’encadre comme l’époque des grands changements en ce qui concerne aussi à la fiscalité directe des revenus de la richesse mobilière. En second lieu, c’est très important à préciser si existe la possibilité de reconstruire les notions actuelles des revenus du travail indépendant en vue de l’aproximation des modalitès de la taxation directe de cette catégorie de revenus de la richesse mobilière avec les modalitès de la taxation directe des revenus de l’entreprise adoptées dans les systèmes italien et français de la fiscalitè directe; par conséquent, la recherche s’oriente vers la déscrition et l’analyse des questions en ce qui concerne à la définition fiscale objective et subjective des revenus du travail indépendant, à la direction vers laquelle on doit s’adresser actuellement les modèles nationaux de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant et les raisons que la justifient. En autre, la recherche s’étendre vers une analyse comparative laquelle évidence les éléments de la convergence et de la divergence nécessaires pour tirer avec exactitude des conclusions sur l’approximation au niveau national et européen des notions des revenus du travail indépendant et des principes et modalités de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant à fin de garantir les libertés de l’établissement et de la prestation des services et les principes de non-dicrimination et de la non-différenciation fiscale des travailleurs indépendants transfrontières dans le marché intérieur. En troisième lieu, c’est très intéressant à préciser avec cette recherche si dans le cadre conventionnel et européen existe une notion de revenu du travail indépendant ou non et si existe un modèle européen unifié ou, au contraire, il s’agit d’une approximation des modèles nationales de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant. Par conséquent, un’autre argument de la recherce est l’analyse de la normative conventionnelle et de la législation européenne et aussi de la jurisprudence de la Cour de la Justice de l’Union Européenne relatives à la construction d’une notion conventionnelle et aussi européenne du travail indépendant au matiere de la fiscalité directe et l’incidence de principes conventionnels et aussi de libertés européenne de l’établissement et de la prestation des services à la taxation directe des revenus des travailleurs indépendants par rapport aux principes de non-discrimination et de la non-différenciation fiscale; une analyse laquelle évidence l’absence d’un modèle conventionnel et d’un modèle européen harmonisé relativement à la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant à raison de la prévalence du principe de la souveranité fiscale au domaine de la fiscalitè directe et pour cette raison en peut parler seulement d’une approximation des modèles nationales de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant à fin de garantir les libertés européenne de l’établissement et de la prestation des services des travailleurs indépendants et les principes conventionnels de non-discrimination et de la non-différenciation fiscale. À la fin, c’est très intéressant à préciser si existe une corrélation entre les Traités fiscales et le Droit fiscal européen en ce qui concerne à la notion de revenus du travail indépendant et les principes fiscales. Par conséquent, la recherche se compléte avec l’analyse du régime fiscale des revenus du travail indépendant évidencé dans le Modèle de la Convention de l’OCDE et dans la Convention Italie-France concernant à l’élimination de la double imposition; une analyse laquelle, en analogie avec le droit fiscal européen, précise l’approximation des revenus du travail indépendant avec les revenus de l’entreprise en se référant le Modèle de la Convention de l’OCDE et l’absence d’un modèle conventionel de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant, mais, à différence du droit fiscal européen, évidence la présence des certains critéres adoptés par la normative conventionnelle à fin de garantir l’arrêt de la double imposition et le principe de la non-discrimination que, en substance, sont points de convérgence avec le droit fiscal européen. En autre, l’analyse de la normative conventionnelle de l’OCDE, à différence de la normative conventionnelle relative à la Convention de l’élimination de la double imposition finalisée par l’Italie et la France, évidence une évolution de la fiscalitè directe en ce qui concerne aux travailleurs indépendants laquelle se vérifie à l’adoption des critéres de la fiscalitè directe des revenus des sociétés et de la quelle en se dérive l’approximation de la notion des revenus du travail indépendant avec la notion des revenus de l’entreprise, en substance, revenus provenant par les activités économiques. Compte tenu de ce qui précède, c’est clair la convérgence parmis les législations nationales de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant et la normative conventionnelle du Modèle de la Convention de l’OCDE et la normative europénne; une convérgence que confirme la nouvelle diréction vers la quelle s’adressent les notions et les modèles de la taxation directe des revenus du travail indépendant dans les systèmes nationals de la taxation directe: l’approximation avec les modèles nationales de la taxation directe des revenus des sociétés en vue de l’approximation des notions des revenus dérives par les activités économiques.

Analisi del profilo tossicologico e cancerogeno del particolato atmosferico e identificazione dei rischi per la salute umana correlati all'esposizione

Gli impianti di incenerimento di rifiuti solidi suscitano preoccupazione nella popolazione per i possibili effetti avversi associati all’esposizione. Gli effetti delle polveri sottili (PM2.5), generate dai processi di combustione, sulla salute umana includono l’insorgenza di patologie a carico del sistema respiratorio e cardiovascolare e l’aumento della mortalità per malattie polmonari e probabilmente cancro al polmone. Lo scopo della tesi è quello di valutare il profilo tossicologico e cancerogeno del particolato atmosferico in prossimità dell’inceneritore di Bologna rispetto alle aree adiacenti mediante l’utilizzo di test alternativi alle metodologie in vivo, come il test di trasformazione cellulare e approcci di tossicogenomica (soprattutto trascrittomica) oltre alla valutazione della variazione del rischio cancerogeno indotto dall’esposizione di PM2.5 in diversi siti (massima ricaduta, controllo, fondo urbano e fondo rurale) e in differenti periodi di campionamento (estate 2008 e inverno 2009). Gli estratti di PM2.5 relativi alla stagione invernale sono risultati più tossici rispetto ai campioni estivi, che inducono tossicità soprattutto alle alte dosi. Per i campioni invernali il numero medio di colonie di cellule BALB/c 3T3 A31-1-1 risulta ridotto in modo significativo anche per le dosi più basse saggiate indipendentemente dal sito di provenienza. Tutti i campioni analizzati sono risultati negativi nel test di trasformazione cellulare in vitro. L’analisi dell’espressione genica delle cellule BALB/c 3T3 A31-1-1, in seguito all’esposizione agli estratti di PM2.5, ha mostrato un effetto stagionale evidente. Relativamente ai campioni invernali è stato evidenziato un maggior effetto tossico da parte del sito di controllo rispetto alla massima ricaduta, poiché nel sito di controllo risultano attivati marcatori di morte cellulare per apoptosi. La valutazione del rischio cancerogeno in tutti i siti valutati non mostra situazioni preoccupanti legate alla predizione di eccessi di rischio di tumori imputabili all’attività dell’inceneritore in quanto le stime di rischio non eccedono mai il valore limite riportato in letteratura.