Comparison between the complete Bayesian method and empirical Bayesian method for ARCH models using Brazilian financial time series

In this work we compared the estimates of the parameters of ARCH models using a complete Bayesian method and an empirical Bayesian method in which we adopted a non-informative prior distribution and informative prior distribution, respectively. We also considered a reparameterization of those models in order to map the space of the parameters into real space. This procedure permits choosing prior normal distributions for the transformed parameters. The posterior summaries were obtained using Monte Carlo Markov chain methods (MCMC). The methodology was evaluated by considering the Telebras series from the Brazilian financial market. The results show that the two methods are able to adjust ARCH models with different numbers of parameters. The empirical Bayesian method provided a more parsimonious model to the data and better adjustment than the complete Bayesian method.

The effect of bone allografts combined with bone marrow stromal cells on the healing of segmental bone defects in a sheep model

Background: The repair of large bone defects is a major orthopedic challenge because autologous bone grafts are not available in large amounts and because harvesting is often associated with donor-site morbidity. Considering that bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) are responsible for the maintenance of bone turnover throughout life, we investigated bone repair at a site of a critically sized segmental defect in sheep tibia treated with BMSCs loaded onto allografts. The defect was created in the mid-portion of the tibial diaphysis of eight adult sheep, and the sheep were treated with ex-vivo expanded autologous BMSCs isolated from marrow aspirates and loaded onto cortical allografts (n = 4). The treated sheep were compared with control sheep that had been treated with cell-free allografts (n = 4) obtained from donors of the same breed as the receptor sheep. Results: The healing response was monitored by radiographs monthly and by computed tomography and histology at six, ten, fourteen, and eighteen weeks after surgery. For the cell-loaded allografts, union was established more rapidly at the interface between the host bone and the allograft, and the healing process was more conspicuous. Remodeling of the allograft was complete at 18 weeks in the cell-treated animals. Histologically, the marrow cavity was reestablished, with intertrabecular spaces being filled with adipose marrow and with evidence of focal hematopoiesis. Conclusions: Allografts cellularized with AOCs (allografts of osteoprogenitor cells) can generate great clinical outcomes to noncellularized allografts to consolidate, reshape, structurally and morphologically reconstruct bone and bone marrow in a relatively short period of time. These features make this strategy very attractive for clinical use in orthopedic bioengineering

Dengue virus type 3 adaptive changes during epidemics in São Jose de Rio Preto, Brazil, 2006–2007

Global dengue virus spread in tropical and sub-tropical regions has become a major international public health concern. It is evident that DENV genetic diversity plays a significant role in the immunopathology of the disease and that the identification of polymorphisms associated with adaptive responses is important for vaccine development. The investigation of naturally occurring genomic variants may play an important role in the comprehension of different adaptive strategies used by these mutants to evade the human immune system. In order to elucidate this role we sequenced the complete polyprotein-coding region of thirty-three DENV-3 isolates to characterize variants circulating under high endemicity in the city of São José de Rio Preto, Brazil, during the onset of the 2006-07 epidemic. By inferring the evolutionary history on a local-scale and estimating rates of synonymous (dS) and nonsynonimous (dN) substitutions, we have documented at least two different introductions of DENV-3 into the city and detected 10 polymorphic codon sites under significant positive selection (dN/dS > 1) and 8 under significant purifying selection (dN/dS < 1). We found several polymorphic amino acid coding sites in the envelope (15), NS1 (17), NS2A (11), and NS5 (24) genes, which suggests that these genes may be experiencing relatively recent adaptive changes. Furthermore, some polymorphisms correlated with changes in the immunogenicity of several epitopes. Our study highlights the existence of significant and informative DENV variability at the spatio-temporal scale of an urban outbreak.

A complete CMOS UWB timed-array transmitter with a 3D Vivaldi antenna array for electronic high-resolution beam spatial scanning

We present a new Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Timed- Array Transmitter System with Beamforming capability for high-resolution remote acquisition of vital signals. The system consists of four identical channels, where each is formed of a serial topology with three modules: programmable delay circuit (PDC or τ), a novel UWB 5th Gaussian Derivative order pulse generator circuit (PG), and a planar Vivaldi antenna. The circuit was designed using 0.18μm CMOS standard process and the planar antenna array was designed with filmconductor on Rogers RO3206 substrate. Spice simulations results showed the pulse generation with 104 mVpp amplitude and 500 ps width. The power consumption is 543 μW, and energy consumption 0.27 pJ per pulse using a 2V power supply at a pulse repetition rate (PRR) of 100 MHz. Electromagnetic simulations results, using CST Microwave (MW) Studio 2011, showed the main lobe radiation with a gain maximum of 13.2 dB, 35.5º x 36.7º angular width, and a beam steering between 17º and -11º for azimuthal (θ) angles and 17º and -18º for elevation (φ) angles at the center frequency of 6 GHz

New high nuclearity carbonyl clusters

The thesis reports the synthesis, and the chemical, structural and spectroscopic characterization of a series of new Rhodium and Au-Fe carbonyl clusters. Most new high-nuclearity rhodium carbonyl clusters have been obtained by redox condensation of preformed rhodium clusters reacting with a species in a different oxidation state generated in situ by mild oxidation. In particular the starting Rh carbonyl clusters is represented by the readily available [Rh7(CO)16]3- 9 compound. The oxidized species is generated in situ by reaction of the above with a stoichiometric defect of a mild oxidizing agents such as [M(H2O)x]n+ aquo complexes possessing different pKa’s and Mn+/M potentials. The experimental results are roughly in keeping with the conclusion that aquo complexes featuring E°(Mn+/M) < ca. -0.20 V do not lead to the formation of hetero-metallic Rh clusters, probably because of the inadequacy of their redox potentials relative to that of the [Rh7(CO)16]3-/2- redox couple. Only homometallic cluster s such as have been fairly selectively obtained. As a fallout of the above investigations, also a convenient and reproducible synthesis of the ill-characterized species [HnRh22(CO)35]8-n has been discovered. The ready availability of the above compound triggered both its complete spectroscopic and chemical characterization. because it is the only example of Rhodium carbonyl clusters with two interstitial metal atoms. The presence of several hydride atoms, firstly suggested by chemical evidences, has been implemented by ESI-MS and 1H-NMR, as well as new structural characterization of its tetra- and penta-anion. All these species display redox behaviour and behave as molecular capacitors. Their chemical reactivity with CO gives rise to a new series of Rh22 clusters containing a different number of carbonyl groups, which have been likewise fully characterized. Formation of hetero-metallic Rh clusters was only observed when using SnCl2H2O as oxidizing agent because. Quite all the Rh-Sn carbonyl clusters obtained have icosahedral geometry. The only previously reported example of an icosahedral Rh cluster with an interstitial atom is the [Rh12Sb(CO)27]3- trianion. They have very similar metal framework, as well as the same number of CO ligands and, consequently, cluster valence electrons (CVEs). .A first interesting aspect of the chemistry of the Rh-Sn system is that it also provides icosahedral clusters making exception to the cluster-borane analogy by showing electron counts from 166 to 171. As a result, the most electron-short species, namely [Rh12Sn(CO)25]4- displays redox propensity, even if disfavoured by the relatively high free negative charge of the starting anion and, moreover, behaves as a chloride scavenger. The presence of these bulky interstitial atoms results in the metal framework adopting structures different from a close-packed metal lattice and, above all, imparts a notable stability to the resulting cluster. An organometallic approach to a new kind of molecular ligand-stabilized gold nanoparticles, in which Fe(CO)x (x = 3,4) moieties protect and stabilize the gold kernel has also been undertaken. As a result, the new clusters [Au21{Fe(CO)4}10]5-, [Au22{Fe(CO)4}12]6-, Au28{Fe(CO)3}4{Fe(CO)4}10]8- and [Au34{Fe(CO)3}6{Fe(CO)4}8]6- have been isolated and characterized. As suggested by concepts of isolobal analogies, the Fe(CO)4 molecular fragment may display the same ligand capability of thiolates and go beyond. Indeed, the above clusters bring structural resemblance to the structurally characterized gold thiolates by showing Fe-Au-Fe, rather than S-Au-S, staple motives. Staple motives, the oxidation state of surface gold atoms and the energy of Au atomic orbitals are likely to concur in delaying the insulator-to-metal transition as the nuclearity of gold thiolates increases, relative to the more compact transition-metal carbonyl clusters. Finally, a few previously reported Au-Fe carbonyl clusters have been used as precursors in the preparation of supported gold catalysts. The catalysts obtained are active for toluene oxidation and the catalytic activity depends on the Fe/Au cluster loading over TiO2.

The rupture process of recent tsunamigenic earthquakes by geophysical data inversion

Subduction zones are the favorite places to generate tsunamigenic earthquakes, where friction between oceanic and continental plates causes the occurrence of a strong seismicity. The topics and the methodologies discussed in this thesis are focussed to the understanding of the rupture process of the seismic sources of great earthquakes that generate tsunamis. The tsunamigenesis is controlled by several kinematical characteristic of the parent earthquake, as the focal mechanism, the depth of the rupture, the slip distribution along the fault area and by the mechanical properties of the source zone. Each of these factors plays a fundamental role in the tsunami generation. Therefore, inferring the source parameters of tsunamigenic earthquakes is crucial to understand the generation of the consequent tsunami and so to mitigate the risk along the coasts. The typical way to proceed when we want to gather information regarding the source process is to have recourse to the inversion of geophysical data that are available. Tsunami data, moreover, are useful to constrain the portion of the fault area that extends offshore, generally close to the trench that, on the contrary, other kinds of data are not able to constrain. In this thesis I have discussed the rupture process of some recent tsunamigenic events, as inferred by means of an inverse method. I have presented the 2003 Tokachi-Oki (Japan) earthquake (Mw 8.1). In this study the slip distribution on the fault has been inferred by inverting tsunami waveform, GPS, and bottom-pressure data. The joint inversion of tsunami and geodetic data has revealed a much better constrain for the slip distribution on the fault rather than the separate inversions of single datasets. Then we have studied the earthquake occurred on 2007 in southern Sumatra (Mw 8.4). By inverting several tsunami waveforms, both in the near and in the far field, we have determined the slip distribution and the mean rupture velocity along the causative fault. Since the largest patch of slip was concentrated on the deepest part of the fault, this is the likely reason for the small tsunami waves that followed the earthquake, pointing out how much the depth of the rupture plays a crucial role in controlling the tsunamigenesis. Finally, we have presented a new rupture model for the great 2004 Sumatra earthquake (Mw 9.2). We have performed the joint inversion of tsunami waveform, GPS and satellite altimetry data, to infer the slip distribution, the slip direction, and the rupture velocity on the fault. Furthermore, in this work we have presented a novel method to estimate, in a self-consistent way, the average rigidity of the source zone. The estimation of the source zone rigidity is important since it may play a significant role in the tsunami generation and, particularly for slow earthquakes, a low rigidity value is sometimes necessary to explain how a relatively low seismic moment earthquake may generate significant tsunamis; this latter point may be relevant for explaining the mechanics of the tsunami earthquakes, one of the open issues in present day seismology. The investigation of these tsunamigenic earthquakes has underlined the importance to use a joint inversion of different geophysical data to determine the rupture characteristics. The results shown here have important implications for the implementation of new tsunami warning systems – particularly in the near-field – the improvement of the current ones, and furthermore for the planning of the inundation maps for tsunami-hazard assessment along the coastal area.

Struktur, Funktion und potentielle Anwendung der PKC- und SNZ,SNO-Promotoren aus Geodia cydonium und Suberites domuncula

Die Schwämme (Porifera) sind eine reiche Quelle bioaktiver Naturstoffe. Viele dieser Naturstoffe besitzen das Potential, als Pharmazeutika, molekulare Sonden usw. eingesetzt oder weiterentwickelt zu werden. Die Beschaffung dieser Naturstoffe in ausreichenden Mengen stellt jedoch eines der größten Probleme bei der Testung und Produktion vielversprechender Substanzen dar. Der Transfer von DNA in Schwammzellen bzw. in komplette Organismen wäre ein vielversprechender Ansatz, dieses Problem zu lösen. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit war es deshalb, die Funktion und Struktur homologer Promotoren zu untersuchen und eine Methode des Gentransfers in Schwammzellen auszuarbeiten. Zu diesem Zweck wurde zusätzlich zu der bereits vorhandenen 5'-flankierenden Region des conventional PKC-Gens aus Geodia cydonium eine genomische Bibliothek von Suberites domuncula konstruiert, um diese mit Hilfe des DNA-Homologiescreenings nach den 5'-flankierenden Regionen des cPKC- und des SNZ (SnooZe)-Gens (SD_SNZG) zu durchsuchen. Die Klonierung und Sequenzierung sowohl des 5'-Bereichs als auch die Charakterisierung der Exon-Intron Struktur beider Gene wurde erfolgreich durchgeführt. In der 5'-Region des SNZ-Gens konnte dabei ein weiteres Gen (SD_SNO; SNZ proximal Open Reading Frame) identifiziert werden, das in einer 'Kopf-an-Kopf' Anordnung zu SD_SNZG orientiert ist. Sowohl SD_SNZG als auch SD_SNO wurden hochkonservierten Genfamilien zugeordnet, deren Vorkommen in Metazoen hier erstmals beschrieben wird.Funktionelle Studien mit Hilfe der Reportergene Luciferase und Enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (EGFP) im heterologen System der NIH 3T3 Zellen wiesen sowohl dem cPKC-Promotor aus G. cydonium als auch dem SNZ-Promotor aus S. domuncula eine starke Promotoraktivität im Verhältnis zum SV40-Promotor nach. Die Aktivität des cPKC-Promotors aus S. domuncula dagegen war relativ schwach. Darüber hinaus konnte geklärt werden, daß die 5'-flankierende Region des SNZ-Gens bidirektionale Promotoraktivität aufweist und daß der G. cydonium cPKC-Promotor keine TATA-Box besitzt, sondern eine GC-Box für die basale Funktion benötigt.Als geeignete Methode zur Transfektion von Zellen des Schwamms S. domuncula erwies sich der ballistische Gentransfer mit Hilfe der Gene Gun. Homologe Promotoren konnten die sichtbare Expression des Reportergens EGFP jedoch nicht bewirken. Nur der virale CMV-Promotor erwies sich als hierfür geeignet.

Biomass Gasification - Process analysis and dimensioning aspects for downdraft units and gas cleaning lines

In such territories where food production is mostly scattered in several small / medium size or even domestic farms, a lot of heterogeneous residues are produced yearly, since farmers usually carry out different activities in their properties. The amount and composition of farm residues, therefore, widely change during year, according to the single production process periodically achieved. Coupling high efficiency micro-cogeneration energy units with easy handling biomass conversion equipments, suitable to treat different materials, would provide many important advantages to the farmers and to the community as well, so that the increase in feedstock flexibility of gasification units is nowadays seen as a further paramount step towards their wide spreading in rural areas and as a real necessity for their utilization at small scale. Two main research topics were thought to be of main concern at this purpose, and they were therefore discussed in this work: the investigation of fuels properties impact on gasification process development and the technical feasibility of small scale gasification units integration with cogeneration systems. According to these two main aspects, the present work was thus divided in two main parts. The first one is focused on the biomass gasification process, that was investigated in its theoretical aspects and then analytically modelled in order to simulate thermo-chemical conversion of different biomass fuels, such as wood (park waste wood and softwood), wheat straw, sewage sludge and refuse derived fuels. The main idea is to correlate the results of reactor design procedures with the physical properties of biomasses and the corresponding working conditions of gasifiers (temperature profile, above all), in order to point out the main differences which prevent the use of the same conversion unit for different materials. At this scope, a gasification kinetic free model was initially developed in Excel sheets, considering different values of air to biomass ratio and the downdraft gasification technology as particular examined application. The differences in syngas production and working conditions (process temperatures, above all) among the considered fuels were tried to be connected to some biomass properties, such elementary composition, ash and water contents. The novelty of this analytical approach was the use of kinetic constants ratio in order to determine oxygen distribution among the different oxidation reactions (regarding volatile matter only) while equilibrium of water gas shift reaction was considered in gasification zone, by which the energy and mass balances involved in the process algorithm were linked together, as well. Moreover, the main advantage of this analytical tool is the easiness by which the input data corresponding to the particular biomass materials can be inserted into the model, so that a rapid evaluation on their own thermo-chemical conversion properties is possible to be obtained, mainly based on their chemical composition A good conformity of the model results with the other literature and experimental data was detected for almost all the considered materials (except for refuse derived fuels, because of their unfitting chemical composition with the model assumptions). Successively, a dimensioning procedure for open core downdraft gasifiers was set up, by the analysis on the fundamental thermo-physical and thermo-chemical mechanisms which are supposed to regulate the main solid conversion steps involved in the gasification process. Gasification units were schematically subdivided in four reaction zones, respectively corresponding to biomass heating, solids drying, pyrolysis and char gasification processes, and the time required for the full development of each of these steps was correlated to the kinetics rates (for pyrolysis and char gasification processes only) and to the heat and mass transfer phenomena from gas to solid phase. On the basis of this analysis and according to the kinetic free model results and biomass physical properties (particles size, above all) it was achieved that for all the considered materials char gasification step is kinetically limited and therefore temperature is the main working parameter controlling this step. Solids drying is mainly regulated by heat transfer from bulk gas to the inner layers of particles and the corresponding time especially depends on particle size. Biomass heating is almost totally achieved by the radiative heat transfer from the hot walls of reactor to the bed of material. For pyrolysis, instead, working temperature, particles size and the same nature of biomass (through its own pyrolysis heat) have all comparable weights on the process development, so that the corresponding time can be differently depending on one of these factors according to the particular fuel is gasified and the particular conditions are established inside the gasifier. The same analysis also led to the estimation of reaction zone volumes for each biomass fuel, so as a comparison among the dimensions of the differently fed gasification units was finally accomplished. Each biomass material showed a different volumes distribution, so that any dimensioned gasification unit does not seem to be suitable for more than one biomass species. Nevertheless, since reactors diameters were found out quite similar for all the examined materials, it could be envisaged to design a single units for all of them by adopting the largest diameter and by combining together the maximum heights of each reaction zone, as they were calculated for the different biomasses. A total height of gasifier as around 2400mm would be obtained in this case. Besides, by arranging air injecting nozzles at different levels along the reactor, gasification zone could be properly set up according to the particular material is in turn gasified. Finally, since gasification and pyrolysis times were found to considerably change according to even short temperature variations, it could be also envisaged to regulate air feeding rate for each gasified material (which process temperatures depend on), so as the available reactor volumes would be suitable for the complete development of solid conversion in each case, without even changing fluid dynamics behaviour of the unit as well as air/biomass ratio in noticeable measure. The second part of this work dealt with the gas cleaning systems to be adopted downstream the gasifiers in order to run high efficiency CHP units (i.e. internal engines and micro-turbines). Especially in the case multi–fuel gasifiers are assumed to be used, weightier gas cleaning lines need to be envisaged in order to reach the standard gas quality degree required to fuel cogeneration units. Indeed, as the more heterogeneous feed to the gasification unit, several contaminant species can simultaneously be present in the exit gas stream and, as a consequence, suitable gas cleaning systems have to be designed. In this work, an overall study on gas cleaning lines assessment is carried out. Differently from the other research efforts carried out in the same field, the main scope is to define general arrangements for gas cleaning lines suitable to remove several contaminants from the gas stream, independently on the feedstock material and the energy plant size The gas contaminant species taken into account in this analysis were: particulate, tars, sulphur (in H2S form), alkali metals, nitrogen (in NH3 form) and acid gases (in HCl form). For each of these species, alternative cleaning devices were designed according to three different plant sizes, respectively corresponding with 8Nm3/h, 125Nm3/h and 350Nm3/h gas flows. Their performances were examined on the basis of their optimal working conditions (efficiency, temperature and pressure drops, above all) and their own consumption of energy and materials. Successively, the designed units were combined together in different overall gas cleaning line arrangements, paths, by following some technical constraints which were mainly determined from the same performance analysis on the cleaning units and from the presumable synergic effects by contaminants on the right working of some of them (filters clogging, catalysts deactivation, etc.). One of the main issues to be stated in paths design accomplishment was the tars removal from the gas stream, preventing filters plugging and/or line pipes clogging At this scope, a catalytic tars cracking unit was envisaged as the only solution to be adopted, and, therefore, a catalytic material which is able to work at relatively low temperatures was chosen. Nevertheless, a rapid drop in tars cracking efficiency was also estimated for this same material, so that an high frequency of catalysts regeneration and a consequent relevant air consumption for this operation were calculated in all of the cases. Other difficulties had to be overcome in the abatement of alkali metals, which condense at temperatures lower than tars, but they also need to be removed in the first sections of gas cleaning line in order to avoid corrosion of materials. In this case a dry scrubber technology was envisaged, by using the same fine particles filter units and by choosing for them corrosion resistant materials, like ceramic ones. Besides these two solutions which seem to be unavoidable in gas cleaning line design, high temperature gas cleaning lines were not possible to be achieved for the two larger plant sizes, as well. Indeed, as the use of temperature control devices was precluded in the adopted design procedure, ammonia partial oxidation units (as the only considered methods for the abatement of ammonia at high temperature) were not suitable for the large scale units, because of the high increase of reactors temperature by the exothermic reactions involved in the process. In spite of these limitations, yet, overall arrangements for each considered plant size were finally designed, so that the possibility to clean the gas up to the required standard degree was technically demonstrated, even in the case several contaminants are simultaneously present in the gas stream. Moreover, all the possible paths defined for the different plant sizes were compared each others on the basis of some defined operational parameters, among which total pressure drops, total energy losses, number of units and secondary materials consumption. On the basis of this analysis, dry gas cleaning methods proved preferable to the ones including water scrubber technology in al of the cases, especially because of the high water consumption provided by water scrubber units in ammonia adsorption process. This result is yet connected to the possibility to use activated carbon units for ammonia removal and Nahcolite adsorber for chloride acid. The very high efficiency of this latter material is also remarkable. Finally, as an estimation of the overall energy loss pertaining the gas cleaning process, the total enthalpy losses estimated for the three plant sizes were compared with the respective gas streams energy contents, these latter obtained on the basis of low heating value of gas only. This overall study on gas cleaning systems is thus proposed as an analytical tool by which different gas cleaning line configurations can be evaluated, according to the particular practical application they are adopted for and the size of cogeneration unit they are connected to.

Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS): An evaluation of success factors in the agricultural sector. The case of Italy's Emilia Romagna region.

Different tools have been used to set up and adopt the model for the fulfillment of the objective of this research. 1. The Model The base model that has been used is the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) adapted with the aim to perform a Benefit Cost Analysis. The AHP developed by Thomas Saaty is a multicriteria decision - making technique which decomposes a complex problem into a hierarchy. It is used to derive ratio scales from both discreet and continuous paired comparisons in multilevel hierarchic structures. These comparisons may be taken from actual measurements or from a fundamental scale that reflects the relative strength of preferences and feelings. 2. Tools and methods 2.1. The Expert Choice Software The software Expert Choice is a tool that allows each operator to easily implement the AHP model in every stage of the problem. 2.2. Personal Interviews to the farms For this research, the farms of the region Emilia Romagna certified EMAS have been detected. Information has been given by EMAS center in Wien. Personal interviews have been carried out to each farm in order to have a complete and realistic judgment of each criteria of the hierarchy. 2.3. Questionnaire A supporting questionnaire has also been delivered and used for the interviews . 3. Elaboration of the data After data collection, the data elaboration has taken place. The software support Expert Choice has been used . 4. Results of the Analysis The result of the figures above (vedere altro documento) gives a series of numbers which are fractions of the unit. This has to be interpreted as the relative contribution of each element to the fulfillment of the relative objective. So calculating the Benefits/costs ratio for each alternative the following will be obtained: Alternative One: Implement EMAS Benefits ratio: 0, 877 Costs ratio: 0, 815 Benfit/Cost ratio: 0,877/0,815=1,08 Alternative Two: Not Implement EMAS Benefits ratio: 0,123 Costs ration: 0,185 Benefit/Cost ratio: 0,123/0,185=0,66 As stated above, the alternative with the highest ratio will be the best solution for the organization. This means that the research carried out and the model implemented suggests that EMAS adoption in the agricultural sector is the best alternative. It has to be noted that the ratio is 1,08 which is a relatively low positive value. This shows the fragility of this conclusion and suggests a careful exam of the benefits and costs for each farm before adopting the scheme. On the other part, the result needs to be taken in consideration by the policy makers in order to enhance their intervention regarding the scheme adoption on the agricultural sector. According to the AHP elaboration of judgments we have the following main considerations on Benefits: - Legal compliance seems to be the most important benefit for the agricultural sector since its rank is 0,471 - The next two most important benefits are Improved internal organization (ranking 0,230) followed by Competitive advantage (ranking 0, 221) mostly due to the sub-element Improved image (ranking 0,743) Finally, even though Incentives are not ranked among the most important elements, the financial ones seem to have been decisive on the decision making process. According to the AHP elaboration of judgments we have the following main considerations on Costs: - External costs seem to be largely more important than the internal ones (ranking 0, 857 over 0,143) suggesting that Emas costs over consultancy and verification remain the biggest obstacle. - The implementation of the EMS is the most challenging element regarding the internal costs (ranking 0,750).

Forstentomologische Untersuchungen an Eichen unterschiedlicher Vitalität des Pfälzerwaldes

Seit Beginn der Waldzustandserhebungen im Jahr 1984 verschlechterte sich der Zustand der Eiche sowohl auf Bundesebene als auch im Land Rheinland-Pfalz deutlich. 1998 konnten nur noch 5 % der rheinland-pfälzischen Eichen in die Kategorie "ohne Schadensmerkmale" eingestuft werden. Vor diesem Hintergrund ergab sich die Notwendigkeit, die biotischen Stress- und Schadfaktoren näher zu untersuchen. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit lag der Fokus auf den holzbewohnenden Käfern von Traubeneichen (Quercus petraea) aus dem Pfälzerwald. Zu diesem Zweck wurden für die erste Probenserie Untersuchungsbäume aus den Vitalitätsstufen 'vital', 'geschädigt', 'ein Jahr tot' und 'zwei Jahre tot' ausgewählt und in die drei Straten Stammfuß, Kronenansatz und Derbholz unterteilt. In der zweiten Probenserie kamen keine 'vitalen' Stämme mehr zum Einsatz. Die einzelnen Proben wurden in Fasseklektoren überführt, in denen die xylobionten Käfer ihre Entwicklung beenden und schlüpfen konnten. Die erste Probenserie wurde im Herbst 1998 entnommen, die zweite Serie im darauffolgenden Herbst. Zusätzlich zu diesen Laboruntersuchungen wurden Freilanduntersuchungen mit Stammeklektoren an vier stehenden Eichen im Wald durchgeführt. Die gefangenen Tiere wurden nach Ordnungen sortiert und gezählt, die Käfer nach Möglichkeit bis zur Art bestimmt. Die Ergebnisse der ersten und zweiten Serie wurden in Abundanzen (Ind./m² Rindenoberfläche) umgerechnet, um einen Vergleich der Proben untereinander möglich zu machen. Insgesamt wurden aus den Fasseklektoren beider Serien Käfer mit einer Abundanz von 36.990 Ind./m² ausgewertet. In den Fallen der Stammeklektoren wurden insgesamt 1.487 Käfer gefunden. Den weitaus größten Teil der Käfer der Fasseklektoren stellen die Borkenkäfer (Scolytidae). Dieses Ergebnis schlägt sich auch in der Betrachtung der Dominanz der einzelnen Arten nieder. In nahezu allen Fällen gehörten die Hauptarten in die Familie Scolytidae. Der mit den Absterbeerscheinungen der Eichen in Verbindung gebrachte Prachtkäfer Agrilus biguttatus (Buprestidae) trat in deutlich geringeren Abundanzen auf. Aufgrund seiner Fraßtätigkeit (Ringelung der Larven im Kambialbereich der Bäume) gehört er aber zu den potentiell stark schädigenden Käfern. Neben A. biguttatus sind auch A. sulcicollis und die gefundenen Borkenkäfer in der Lage, vorgeschädigte und geschwächte Eichen zu befallen und noch weiter zu schwächen. Aus waldhygienischen Gründen sollten deshalb regelmäßige Kontrollen durchgeführt werden. Bei erkennbarem Befall sollten die betroffenen Bäume gefällt und aus dem Bestand entfernt werden. Langfristig können die Vermeidung von nicht-standortgerechtem Eichenanbau und das Anlegen von naturnahen Mischbeständen zu den waldbaulichen Maßnahmen gerechnet werden, die eine Reduktion des Infektionsrisikos zur Folge haben. Die 'ein Jahr toten' Bäume wiesen die mit Abstand höchste Abundanz an Lebendholzbesiedlern auf. Bäume, die bereits ein Jahr länger tot im Bestand standen, wurden von deutlich weniger Lebendholzbesiedlern befallen, d.h. von 'zwei Jahre toten' Bäumen ging ein potentiell geringerer Infektionsdruck aus als von 'ein Jahr toten' Eichen. Im Laufe des Verrottungsprozesses verringert sich diese Gefahr noch weiter, da die Holzfeuchte weiter abnimmt und die Lebendholzbesiedler keine Nahrungsgrundlage mehr vorfinden. Besonders die Gefahr des Neubefalls durch Agrilus von mindestens zweijährig toten Bäumen besteht kaum, weil zumindest die Larven der ersten Stadien des Prachtkäfers auf lebendes Gewebe angewiesen sind.

L'associazione Tipifarnib-Bortezomib nel trattamento delle leucemie acute mieloidi: risultati di uno studio multicentrico di fase I/II e validazione di un profilo genico predittivo di risposta

Background. Outcome of elderly acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients is dismal. Targeted-therapies might improve current results by overcoming drug-resistance and reducing toxicity. Aim. We conduced a phase II study aiming to assess efficacy and toxicity of Tipifarnib (Zarnestra®) and Bortezomib (Velcade®) association in AML patients >18 years, unfit for conventional therapy, or >60 years, in relapse. Furthermore, we aimed to evaluated the predictive value of the RASGRP1/APTX ratio, which was previously found to be associated to treatment sensitivity in patients receiving Zarnestra alone. Methods. Velcade (1.0 mg/m2) was administered as weekly infusion for 3 weeks (days 1, 8, 15). Zarnestra was administered at dose of 300-600 mg BID for 21 consecutive days. Real-time quantitative-PCR (q-PCR) was used for RASGRP1/APTX quantification. Results. 50 patients were enrolled. Median age was 71 years (56-89). 3 patients achieved complete remission (CR) and 1 partial response (PR). 2 patients obtained an hematological improvement (HI), and 3 died during marrow aplasia. 10 had progressive disease (PD) and the remaining showed stable disease (SD). RASGRP1/APTX was evaluated before treatment initiation on bone marrow (BM) and/or peripheral blood (PB). The median RASGRP/APTX value on BM was higher in responder (R) patients than in non responders (NR) ones, respectively (p=0.006). Interestingly, no marrow responses were recorded in patients with BM RASGRP1/APTX ratio <12, while the response rate was 50% in patients with ratio >12. Toxicity was overall mild, the most common being febrile neutropenia. Conclusion. We conclude that the clinical efficacy of the combination Zarnestra-Velcade was similar to what reported for Zarnestra alone. However we could confirm that the RASGPR1/APTX level is an effective predictor of response. Though higher RASGRP1/APTX is relatively rare (~10% of cases), Zarnestra (±Velcade) may represent an important option in a subset of high risk/frail AML patients.

Harmful algae and their potential impacts on the coastal ecosystem: growth and toxin production dynamics

The main goal of the present thesis was to study some harmful algal species which cause blooms in Italian coastal waters, leading to consequences for human health, coastal ecosystem, fishery and tourism. In particular, in the first part of this thesis the toxicity of Adriatic strains of the raphidophyte Fibrocapsa japonica was investigated. Despite several hypotheses have been proposed for the toxic mechanism of the raphidophytes, especially for the species Chattonella antiqua and C. marina, which have been studied more extensively, just a few studies on the toxic effects of these species for different organisms were reported. Moreover, a careful reading of the literature evidenced as any ichthyotoxic events reported worldwide can be linked to F. japonica blooms. Although recently several studies were performed on F. japonica strains from the USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, and France in order to characterize their growth and toxicity features, the work reported in this thesis results one of the first investigation on the toxic effects of F. japonica for different organisms, such as bacteria, crustaceans and fish. Mortality effects, together with haemolysis of fish erythrocytes, probably due to the relatively high amount of PUFAs produced by this species, were observed. Mortality for fish, however, was reported only at a high cell density and after a long exposition period (9-10 days); moreover a significant increase of H2O2 obtained in the tanks where sea basses were exposed to F. japonica was also relevant. This result may justify the absence of ichthyotoxic events in the Italian coasts, despite F. japonica blooms detected in these areas were characterized by high cell densities. This work reports also a first complete characterization of the fatty acids produced and extracellularly released by the Adriatic F. japonica, and results were also compared with the fatty acid profile of other strains. The absence of known brevetoxins in F. japonica algal extracts was also highlighted, leading to the hypothesis that the toxicity of F. japonica may be due to a synergic effect of PUFAs and ROS. Another microalgae that was studied in this thesis is the benthic dinoflagellate Ostreopsis cf. ovata. This species was investigated with the aim to investigate the effect of environmental parameters on its growth and toxicity. O. cf. ovata, in fact, shows different blooming periods along the Italian coasts and even the reported toxic effects are variable. The results of this work confirmed the high variability in the growth dynamic and toxin content of several Italian strains which were isolated in recent years along the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian Seas. Moreover, the effects of temperature and salinity on the behaviour of the different isolates are in good agreement with the results obtained from field surveys, which evidence as the environmental parameters are important factors modulating O. cf. ovata proliferation. Another relevant result that was highlighted is the anomaly in the production of palytoxin-like compounds reported by one of the studied isolate, in particular the one isolated in 2008 in Ancona (Adriatic Sea). Only this strain reported the absence of two (ovatoxin-b and –c) of the five ovatoxins so far known in the toxin profile and a different relative abundance of the other toxins. The last aspect that was studied in this thesis regards the toxin biosythesis. In fact, toxins produced (palytoxin-like compounds) or supposed to be produced (brevetoxin-like compounds) by O. cf. ovata and F. japonica, respectively, are polyketides, which are highly oxygenated compounds synthesized by complex enzymes known as polyketide synthase (PKS) enzymes. These enzymes are multi-domain complexes that structurally and functionally resemble the fatty acid synthases (FASs). This work reports the first study of PKS proteins in the dinoflagellates O. cf. ovata, C. monotis and in the raphidophyte F. japonica. For the first time some PKSs were identified in these species, confirming the presence of PKS proteins predicted by the in silico translation of the transcripts found in K. brevis also in other species. The identification of O. cf. ovata PKSs and the localization of the palytoxin-like compounds produced by this dinoflagellate in a similar location (chloroplast) as that observed for other dinoflagellate and cyanobacterial toxins provides some indication that these proteins may be involved in polyketide biosynthesis. However, their potential function as fatty acid synthases cannot be ruled out, as plant fatty acid synthesis also occurs within chloroplasts. This last hypothesis is also supported by the fact that in all the investigated species, and in particular in F. japonica, PKS proteins were present. Therefore, these results provide an important contribution to the study of the polyketides and of the involvement of PKS proteins in the toxin biosynthesis.

Statistical Mechanics of Monomer-Dimer Models on Complete and Erdös-Rényi Graphs

Nella tesi sono trattate due famiglie di modelli meccanico statistici su vari grafi: i modelli di spin ferromagnetici (o di Ising) e i modelli di monomero-dimero. Il primo capitolo è dedicato principalmente allo studio del lavoro di Dembo e Montanari, in cui viene risolto il modello di Ising su grafi aleatori. Nel secondo capitolo vengono studiati i modelli di monomero-dimero, a partire dal lavoro di Heilemann e Lieb,con l'intento di dare contributi nuovi alla teoria. I principali temi trattati sono disuguaglianze di correlazione, soluzioni esatte su alcuni grafi ad albero e sul grafo completo, la concentrazione dell'energia libera intorno al proprio valor medio sul grafo aleatorio diluito di Erdös-Rényi.