Valutazioni tecnico-ambientali per la gestione sostenibile di un impianto fotovoltaico.

All'interno dell'elaborato si analizzano le potenzialità offerte da uno sviluppo sostenibile del fotovoltaico per la nostra richiesta energetica futura. Sono inoltre illustrati gli ultimi interventi applicati in tema di politica ambientale e viene evidenziato il contributo fondamentale offerto da un opportuno quadro normativo per la valorizzazione del settore. Viene effettuato un'analisi della convenienza e fattibilità economica del sistema fotovoltaico. Si sottolinea infine la necessità e i benefici garantiti dal riciclaggio dei pannelli solari dismessi e vengono mostrati le attuali soluzioni studiate e applicate.

Kaon and D meson masses with N_f = 2+1+1 twisted mass lattice QCD

We discuss the computation of the kaon and D meson masses in the N_f = 2+1+1 twisted mass lattice QCD setup, where explicit heavy flavor and parity breaking occurs at finite lattice spacing. We present three methods suitable in this context and verify their consistency.

[Laparoscopic management of genital prolapse by lateral suspension using mesh: a series of 377 patients]

Genital prolapse is frequent and can be found in about 50% of parous women. Its etiology is complex and multifactorial. Predisposing factors include: genetics (connective tissue disorders, family history); general state (age, parity, weight, smoking, obstructive pulmonary disease); trauma (carrying heavy loads, intense physical exercise); or iatrogenic (post hysterectomy). Treatment can be conservative or surgical and depends mainly on the severity of symptoms. Developments in surgical techniques and synthetic material in the last 20 years enabled us to use minimally invasive procedures with improved post operative course and decreased recurrence rates.

The Blue Dog Coalition: Impact of a Single-Issue Caucus from the 104th to the 110th Congress

The Blue Dog Coalition is an informal organization of legislators within the House of Representatives that strives to influence policy on fiscal responsibility, attract the attention of the electorate, They are a group that elicits wide range of reactions covering the length of the political spectrum, but despite this, their claims of special defense of fiscal conservatism within the Democratic Party have gone relatively undocumented by the academic community.This project has integrated a party literature with a caucus literature, in the attempt of building a novel framework for research. Work on polarization, the significance of parties, the purpose and history of caucuses all have been fused in such away that the Blue Dogs have created an opportunity to test broad congressional questions on a caucus-microcosm scale. Three important questions have emerged from the many possible avenues of exploration on the topic: How does admission into the Blue Dog Coalition effect voting behavior - measured by interest, ideology, and party unityscores? How does party leadership delegate prestigious committee assignments, a traditional indicator of partisan favor and influence, towards Blue Dogs? Can we use the Blue Dog Coalition as an indicator of fiscal conservatism? To each of these questions, a number of interesting results emerged. Blue Dogs, in the 104th scored higher in conservative interest group scores, more towards the center in ideological methods, and lower in party unity Dogs began to behave closer to their Democratic counterparts. In addition, membership on these select committees rose from a very small number to greater proportional parity within the Democratic Party. Perhaps most interesting, the Blue Dog Coalition does behave as a significant, independent predictor effect on NTU scores, a variable used to demonstrate fiscal conservatism. This research has shown, first and foremost, that it is useful and practical to applyold arguments within the party literature to a smaller, caucus level of analysis that is relatively untouched by the political science field. For the Blue Dogs, specifically, we have tested the validity of their claims in an attempt to reach broader questions ofdemocratic responsibility and electoral clarity. This work, and other work I have drawn upon, has barely scratched the surface on Blue Dog Democrats and other caucuses of comparable influence and popularity, and there remains a wealth of research material onthis caucus alone to be explored by scholars in the field of congressional politics.

Acceptance of two liquid vitamin D₃ formulations among mothers with newborn infants: a randomized, single-blind trial

In Switzerland, children are prescribed 7.5-12.5 μg per day of vitamin D(3) dissolved in alcohol, but many families do not adhere to the recommendation. The aim of the trial was to compare the acceptance of vitamin D(3) dissolved in alcohol or in medium-chain triglycerides among mothers of Swiss newborn infants. The acceptance was tested in 42 healthy newborn infants (20 girls and 22 boys) aged between 2 and 7 days. Their neonatal body weight ranged between 2.225 and 4.150 kg, and the gestational age between 36 1/7 and 41 3/7 weeks. The blinded mothers rated the facial reaction of their children by pointing on a facial hedonic scale. Thirty eight of the 41 mothers, who brought the comparison to completion, assigned a better score to the oily preparation with no difference in the remaining three cases (P < 0.0001). The acceptance for the oily preparation was significantly better both among mothers whose babies were initially presented the alcoholic preparation and among mothers whose babies were initially presented the oily preparation. Furthermore, the acceptance for the oily preparation was better irrespective of gender of the infant or parity of the mother. In conclusion, from the perspective of mothers, Swiss newborn infants prefer the taste of the oily vitamin D(3) preparation over the alcoholic preparation.

Search for a heavy particle decaying into an electron and a muon with the ATLAS detector in sqrt[s] = 7 TeV pp collisions at the LHC

This Letter presents the first search for a heavy particle decaying into an e ± μ(-/+) final state in sqrt[s] = 7 TeV pp collisions at the LHC. The data were recorded by the ATLAS detector during 2010 and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 35 pb(-1). No excess above the standard model background expectation is observed. Exclusions at 95% confidence level are placed on two representative models. In an R-parity violating supersymmetric model, tau sneutrinos with a mass below 0.75 TeV are excluded, assuming all R-parity violating couplings are zero except λ(311)' = 0.11 and λ312 = 0.07. In a lepton flavor violating model, a Z'-like vector boson with masses of 0.70-1.00 TeV and corresponding cross sections times branching ratios of 0.175-0.183 pb is excluded. These results extend to higher mass R-parity violating sneutrinos and lepton flavor violating Z's than previous constraints from the Tevatron.

A field study on characteristics and diversity of gene expression in the liver of dairy cows during the transition period

Metabolic and endocrine adaptations to support milk production during the transition period vary between individual cows. This variation between cows to adapt to lactation may have a genetic basis. The present field study was carried out to determine hepatic adaptations occurring from late pregnancy through early lactation by measuring mRNA abundance of candidate genes in dairy cows on-farm. Additionally, the objective was to observe the diversity in inter-individual variation for the candidate genes that may give indications where individual adaptations at a molecular level can be found. This study was carried out on-farm including 232 dairy cows (parity >3) from 64 farms in Switzerland. Blood and liver samples were collected on d 20+/-7 before parturition, on d 24+/-2, and on d 89+/-4 after parturition. Blood plasma was assayed for concentrations of glucose, nonesterified fatty acids, beta-hydroxybutyrate, cholesterol, triglycerides, urea, albumin, protein, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-1, leptin, 3,5,3'-triiodothyronine, and thyroxine. Liver samples were obtained at the same time points and were measured for mRNA abundance of 26 candidate genes encoding enzymes and nuclear receptors involved in gluconeogenesis, fatty acid beta-oxidation, fatty acid and triglyceride synthesis, ketogenesis, citric acid cycle, cholesterol synthesis, and the urea cycle. The cows in the present study experienced a marked metabolic load in early lactation, as presented by changes in plasma metabolites and hormones, and responded accordingly with upregulation and downregulation of almost all candidate genes involved in metabolic processes in the liver. The observed inter-individual variation for the candidate genes, which was highest for acetyl-CoA-carboxylase and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase 2, should be further investigated to unravel the regulation at molecular level for optimal adaptive performance in dairy cows.

Running in Heels: an Analysis of Advertisements By Female Senate Candidates

Female candidates have become more successful in the political arena, specifically in the United States Senate. Today, females make up twenty percent of the total Senate seats. Despite this increase, females are still underrepresented in Washington. As such, understanding the roadblocks to equality will help us achieve parity. In an attempt to understand various challenges that female senatorial candidates face, this project looks at a specific element of their campaign, TV advertisements. Assessing candidate advertisements will help us understand whether gender affects strategic campaign decisions. Specifically, this project investigates the relationship between candidate gender and casting and setting of TV advertisements. Does gender influence the makeup of political ad spots? In order to understand this relationship more completely, I employ both quantitative data and case study analysis for same-gender and mixed-gender primary and general election contests in 2004 and 2008. Ultimately, candidate gender has little to no effect on casting of senatorial advertisements across both election cycles. Despite this variation in casting, we observe consistent findings across three settings, the political setting, the home setting, and the neighborhood setting. In both 2004 and 2008, female candidates use smaller proportions of ad frames with the political setting in comparison to their male counterparts. Female candidates in both election cycles also employed greater proportions of ad frames with the home and neighborhood setting compared to male candidates. These discrepancies point to a distinction in advertisement strategy depending on gender of the candidate.

Immigrants in the Czech Republic (With Special Reference to Ukrainian Workers and "Western" Firms Operating in Prague)

International migration has increased rapidly in the Czech Republic, with more than 150,000 legally registered foreign residents at the end of 1996. A large proportion of these are in Prague - 35% of the total in December 1996. The aim of this project was to enrich the fund of information concerning the "environment", reasons and "mechanisms" behind immigration to the Czech Republic. Mr. Drbohlav looked first at the empirical situation and on this basis set out to test certain well-known migration theories. He focused on four main areas: 1) a detailed description and explanation of the stock of foreign citizens legally settled in Czech territory, concentrating particularly on "economic" migrants; 2) a questionnaire survey targeting a total of 192 Ukrainian workers (98 in the fall 1995 and 94 in the fall 1996) working in Prague or its vicinity; 3) a second questionnaire survey of 40 "western" firms (20 in 1996 and 20 in 1997) operating out of Prague; 4) an opinion poll on how the Czech population reacts to foreign workers in the CR. Over 80% of economic immigrants at the end of 1996 were from European countries, 16% from Asia and under 2% from North America. The largest single nationalities were Ukrainians, Slovaks, Vietnamese and Poles. There has been a huge increase in the Ukrainian immigrant community over both space (by region) and time (a ten-fold increase since 1993), and at 40,000 persons this represents one third of all legal immigrants. Indications are that many more live and work there illegally. Young males with low educational/skills levels predominate, in contrast with the more heterogeneous immigration from the "West". The primary reason for this migration is the higher wages in the Czech Republic. In 1994 the relative figures of GDP adjusted for parity of purchasing power were US$ 8,095 for the Czech Republic versus US$ 3,330 for the Ukraine as a whole and US$ 1,600 for the Zakarpatye region from which 49% of the respondents in the survey came. On an individual level, the average Czech wage is about US$ 330 per month, while 50% of the Ukrainian respondents put their last monthly wage before leaving for the Czech Republic at under US$ 27. The very low level of unemployment in the latter country (fluctuating around 4%) was also mentioned as an important factor. Migration was seen as a way of diversifying the family's source of income and 49% of the respondents had made their plans together with partners or close relatives, while 45% regularly send remittances to Ukraine (94% do so through friends or relatives). Looking at Ukrainian migration from the point of view of the dual market theory, these migrants' type and conditions of work, work load and earnings were all significantly worse than in the primary sector, which employs well educated people and offers them good earnings, job security and benefits. 53% of respondents were working and/or staying in the Czech Republic illegally at the time of the research, 73% worked as unqualified, unskilled workers or auxiliary workers, 62% worked more than 12 hours a day, and 40% evaluated their working conditions as hard. 51% had no days off, earnings were low in relation to the number of hours worked. and 85% said that their earnings did not increase over time. Nearly half the workers were recruited in Ukraine and only 4% expressed a desire to stay in the Czech Republic. Network theories were also borne out to some extent as 33% of immigrants came together with friends from the same village, town or region in Ukraine. The number who have relatives working in the Czech Republic is rising, and many wish to invite relatives or children to visit them. The presence of organisations which organised cross-border migration, including some which resort to organising illegal documents, also gives some support for the institutional theory. Mr. Drbohlav found that all the migration theories considered offered some insights on the situation, but that none was sufficient to explain it all. He also points out parallels with many other regions of the world, including Central America, South and North America, Melanesia, Indonesia, East Africa, India, the Middle East and Russia. For the survey of foreign and international firms, those chosen were largely from countries represented by more than one company and were mainly active in market services such as financial and trade services, marketing and consulting. While 48% of the firms had more than 10,000 employees spread through many countries, more than two thirds had fewer than 50 employees in the Czech Republic. Czechs formed 80% plus of general staff in these firms although not more than 50% of senior management, and very few other "easterners" were employed. All companies absolutely denied employing people illegally. The average monthly wage of Czech staff was US$ 850, with that of top managers from the firm's "mother country" being US$ 6,350 and that of other western managers US$ 3,410. The foreign staff were generally highly mobile and were rarely accompanied by their families. Most saw their time in the Czech Republic as positive for their careers but very few had any intention of remaining there. Factors in the local situation which were evaluated positively included market opportunities, the economic and political environment, the quality of technical and managerial staff, and cheap labour and low production costs. In contrast, the level of appropriate business ethics and conduct, the attitude of local and regional authorities, environmental production conditions, the legal environment and financial markets and fiscal policy were rated very low. In the final section of his work Mr. Drbohlav looked at the opinions expressed by the local Czech population in a poll carried out at the beginning of 1997. This confirmed that international labour migration has become visible in this country, with 43% of respondents knowing at least one foreigner employed by a Czech firm in this country. Perception differ according to the region from which the workers come and those from "the West" are preferred to those coming from further east. 49% saw their attitude towards the former as friendly but only 20% felt thus towards the latter. Overall, attitudes towards migrant workers is neutral, although 38% said that such workers should not have the same rights as Czech citizens. Sympathy towards foreign workers tends to increase with education and the standard of living, and the relatively positive attitudes towards foreigners in the South Bohemia region contradicted the frequent belief that a lack of experience of international migration lowers positive perceptions of it.

Search for a heavy narrow resonance decaying to eμ, eτ, or μτ with the ATLAS detector in View the MathML sourcepp collisions at the LHC

This Letter presents the results of a search for a heavy particle decaying into an e(+/-)mu(+/-), e(+/-)tau(+/-), or mu(+/-)tau(+/-) final state in pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV. The data were recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011 and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 fb(-1). No significant excess above the Standard Model expectation is observed, and exclusions at 95% confidence level are placed on the cross section times branching ratio for the production of an R-parity-violating supersymmetric tau sneutrino. For a sneutrino mass of 500 (2000) GeV, the observed limits on the production cross section times branching ratio are 3.2 (1.4) fb, 42 (17) fb, and 40 (18) fb for the e mu, e tau, and mu tau modes, respectively. These results considerably extend constraints from Tevatron experiments.

Maternal factors implicated in fetal bradycardia after combined spinal epidural for labour pain

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Combined spinal epidural analgesia is effective for fast relief of severe labour pain but has been associated with worrisome decreases in fetal heart rate. Since the reasons for this phenomenon remain elusive, some anaesthesiologists may abstain from using this technique. We postulated that factors unrelated to the neuraxial technique could play a role in the decrease in fetal heart rate. To our knowledge, no prospective study has previously looked into this possibility. METHODS: We collected prospective data on 223 consecutive patients who received combined spinal epidural analgesia (123) or epidural analgesia (100). Maternal blood pressure, analogue pain scores, exogenous infusion of oxytocin, cervical dilatation, maternal age, parity and ethnicity were collected and correlated with the occurrence of decreases in fetal heart rate post combined spinal epidural. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed a correlation between the incidence of fetal bradycardia and higher maternal pain scores, older maternal age, and combined spinal epidural analgesia. Multivariate analysis revealed that only pain scores and maternal age were independent predictors of fetal bradycardia post neuraxial blockade. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal pain scores and older maternal age are factors unrelated to the neuraxial technique that are independent predictors of fetal bradycardia after neuraxial analgesia for labour.

Variation in hepatic regulation of metabolism during the dry period and in early lactation in dairy cows

The purpose of this study was to investigate variations in hepatic regulation of metabolism during the dry period, after parturition, and in early lactation in dairy cows. For this evaluation, cows were divided into 2 groups based on the plasma concentration of beta-hydroxybutyric acid (BHBA) in wk 4 postpartum (PP; group HB, BHBA >0.75 mmol/L; group LB, BHBA <0.75 mmol/L, respectively). Liver biopsies were obtained from 28 cows at drying off (mean 59 +/- 8 d antepartum), on d 1, and in wk 4 and 14 PP. Blood samples were collected every 2 wk during this entire period. Liver samples were analyzed for mRNA abundance of genes related to carbohydrate metabolism (pyruvate carboxylase, PC; phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase, PEPCK; citrate synthase, CS), fatty acid biosynthesis (ATP citrate lyase, ACLY) and oxidation (acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain, ACSL; carnitine palmitoyltransferase 1A, CPT 1A; carnitine palmitoyltransferase 2, CPT 2; acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase very long chain, ACADVL), cholesterol biosynthesis (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase 1, HMGCS1), ketogenesis (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A synthase 2, HMGCS2), and of genes encoding the transcription factors peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma), and sterol regulatory element binding factor 1 (SREBF1). Blood plasma was assayed for concentrations of glucose, BHBA, nonesterified fatty acids, cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I, and thyroid hormones. In both groups, plasma parameters followed a pattern usually observed in dairy cows. However, changes were moderate and the energy balance in cows turned positive in wk 7 PP for both groups. Additionally, the energy balance and milk yield were similar for both groups after parturition onwards. Significant group effects were found at drying off, when plasma concentrations of triglycerides were higher in LB than in HB, and in wk 4 PP, when plasma concentrations of glucose and IGF-I were lower in HB than in LB. Similarly, moderate changes in mRNA expression of hepatic genes between the different time points were observed, although HB cows showed more adaptive performance than LB cows based on changes in mRNA expression of PEPCKc, PEPCKm, CS, CPT 1A, CPT 2, and PPARalpha. Part of the variation measured in this study was explained by parity. Significant Spearman rank correlation coefficients between the variables were not similar at each time point and were not similar between the groups at each time point, suggesting that metabolic regulation differs between cows. In conclusion, metabolic regulation in dairy cows is a dynamic system, and differs obviously between cows at different metabolic stages related to parturition.

Effects of thermal environment on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hormones, oxytocin, and behavioral activity in periparturient sows

Provision of additional floor heating (33 to 34 degrees C) at birth and during the early postnatal hours is favorable for newborn piglets of domestic sows (Sus scrofa). We investigated whether this relatively high temperature influenced sow behavior and physiology around farrowing. One-half of 28 second-parity pregnant sows were randomly chosen to be exposed to floor heating 12 h after onset of nest building and until 48 h after birth of the first piglet (heat treatment), whereas the rest of the sows entered the control group (control treatment) with no floor heating. Hourly blood sampling from 8 h before and until 24 h after the birth of the first piglet was used for investigation of temporal changes in plasma concentrations of oxytocin, cortisol, and ACTH. In addition, occurrence and duration of sow postures were recorded -8 to +48 h relative to the birth of the first piglet. There was a clear temporal development in sow behavior and hormone concentrations (ACTH, cortisol, and oxytocin) across parturition (P < 0.001), independent of treatment. In general, hormone concentrations increased from the start to the end of farrowing. The observed oxytocin increase and peak late in farrowing coincided with the passive phase where sows lie laterally with an overall reduced activity. Floor heating increased the mean concentration of cortisol (P = 0.02; estimated as 29% greater than in controls) and tended to increase the mean concentration of ACTH (P = 0.08; estimated as 17% greater than in controls), but we did not find any treatment effect on mean oxytocin concentrations, the course of parturition, or the behavior of sows. Behavioral thermoregulation may, however, have lost some function for the sows because the floor was fully heated in our study. In addition, exposure to heat decreased the between-sow variation of plasma oxytocin (approximately 31% less relative to control) and ACTH (approximately 46% less relative to control). Whether this decreased variation may be indicative of acute stress or linked to other biological events is unclear. In conclusion, inescapable floor heating (around 33.5 degrees C) may be considered a stressor for sows around farrowing, giving rise to elevated plasma concentrations of cortisol, but without concurrent changes in oxytocin or behavioral activity.

The Benefits of Multilingualism for Statutory and Constitutional Interpretation in South Africa

Taking the South African experience as an example, this article considers the interpretive benefits to be reaped from having access to bi- and multilingual versions of a statutory text. The discussion takes place against the backdrop of a history of statutory bi- and multilingualism in the said jurisdiction as well as, at present, constitutional guarantees of language rights and the “parity of esteem” of eleven official languages. It is argued that, if invoked with due discretion and in a non-rigid way, statutory multilingualism can be a boon to statutory and constitutional interpretation. The South African courts – whose traditional approach to statutory inter-pretation has tended to be literalist, formalistic and formulaic – are, generally speaking, to be commended for their supple use of bilingualism as an aid to interpretation over the years. The advent of constitutional multilingualism and the (potential) availability of statutory texts (and the Constitution) in more than two languages, have moreover created conditions conducive to the further development and refinement of reliance on multilingualism in statutory and constitutional interpretation – certain challenges notwithstanding.

Tropical cyclone-related socio-economic losses in the western North Pacific region

The western North Pacific (WNP) is the area of the world most frequently affected by tropical cyclones (TCs). However, little is known about the socio-economic impacts of TCs in this region, probably because of the limited relevant loss data. Here, loss data from Munich RE's NatCatSERVICE database is used, a high-quality and widely consulted database of natural disasters. In the country-level loss normalisation technique we apply, the original loss data are normalised to present-day exposure levels by using the respective country's nominal gross domestic product at purchasing power parity as a proxy for wealth. The main focus of our study is on the question of whether the decadal-scale TC variability observed in the Northwest Pacific region in recent decades can be shown to manifest itself economically in an associated variability in losses. It is shown that since 1980 the frequency of TC-related loss events in the WNP exhibited, apart from seasonal and interannual variations, interdecadal variability with a period of about 22 yr – driven primarily by corresponding variations of Northwest Pacific TCs. Compared to the long-term mean, the number of loss events was found to be higher (lower) by 14% (9%) in the positive (negative) phase of the decadal-scale WNP TC frequency variability. This was identified for the period 1980–2008 by applying a wavelet analysis technique. It was also possible to demonstrate the same low-frequency variability in normalised direct economic losses from TCs in the WNP region. The identification of possible physical mechanisms responsible for the observed decadal-scale Northwest Pacific TC variability will be the subject of future research, even if suggestions have already been made in earlier studies.