Archivio della ricerca della Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna
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Strenghtening Resilience. Towards the European Democracy Shield
No full textThis study reviews the current framework to protect democracy in the EU in view of the
forthcoming European Democracy Shield. It provides a comprehensive map of the existing
instruments, while identifying and assessing outstanding policy challenges, regulatory gaps and
implementation issues. The study also formulates recommendations to strengthen democratic
resilience
SoftTex: Soft Robotic Arm With Learning-Based Textile Proprioception
No full textSoft robots are promising in biomedical applications thanks to their inherent structural compliance and distributed large deformations. However, integrating a sensory system that maintains the robot's dexterity while offering accurate state estimation remains an open challenge for their widespread adoption. This letter presents SoftTex, a small-scale soft robotic arm built with textile fabrics. SoftTex redesigns the STIFF-FLOP soft manipulator to favor affordable, rapid, and repeatable fabrication methods, facilitating the integration of a proprioceptive system based on piezoresistive textile strips preserving the soft arm compliance. First, we characterized the bending and stretching capabilities of the soft robotic arm and its workspace. The force tests demonstrated effectiveness for potential biomedical applications, revealing pulling forces ranging from 3.4-7.4 N and pushing forces from 2-7.5 N. Finally, we leveraged actuation, motion, and proprioceptive data collected with an open-loop controller to develop a position state estimator using a parallel recurrent neural network trained with supervised curriculum learning. The proprioceptive network achieves an average prediction error of 2.0 ± 1.8 mm (3.4 ± 2.9L, where L is module length). The findings are promising for closed-loop control, addressing the demand for low-cost, sensor-equipped soft robotic arms in the medical field and enhancing their potential for confined space exploration
A Quasi-Direct Numerical Simulation of a Compressor Blade with Separation Bubbles and Inflow Turbulence
No full textMapping and managing geographic variation in elective surgeries through user-friendly data presentation: insights from Tuscany region
No full textGeographic variation in elective surgical procedures poses challenges to healthcare equity, efficiency, and resource allocation. This study investigates variation in 14 elective surgical procedures performed in Tuscany, Italy, in 2022, focusing on both regional and Local Health Authority levels. Using hospital discharge data, we calculated treatment rates and the Systematic Component of Variation (SCV) to quantify unwarranted variation, applying McPherson et al. (1996)'s thresholds for interpretation. Results revealed substantial differences across procedures, with low SCVs for hip replacement and inguinal hernia repair, and very high SCVs for vein stripping and coronary artery bypass grafting. To support interpretation and governance, we developed a graphical tool that visually represents SCV levels using an intuitive, color-coded format. The tool was designed to reduce the uncertainty healthcare professionals often face when interpreting variation without clear clinical benchmarks, helping them distinguish between acceptable and potentially unwarranted differences. It was presented during the 2023 Tuscan Performance Evaluation System event and pilot-tested in 2025 with 23 healthcare professionals. The tool improved participants' ability to identify the most appropriate level of governance for action and increased confidence in understanding variation patterns. This study offers a replicable model for analyzing variation and demonstrates the value of user-friendly data visualizations in supporting informed, equity-oriented healthcare decisions. Further validation is recommended to assess long-term impact
The Lesson from America: US Politics and recent trends in contemporary political economies
No full textUS politics is living a tense period of transformation. Approaching the presidential elections of 2024,
many commentators question the fate of the US representative democracy and its political system.
Political scientists have largely contributed to the critical analysis of the US case. A special mention
goes to Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson. The two scholars have marked the last two decades of US political
science with a brilliant reconstruction of the American crisis and some of its key trends: the progressive
increase of inequality; the mounting role of business lobbies; the decline of the US political economy and
the erosion of the federal institutions. The present research note reviews three key books that shed light on
contemporary US political economy through a typical political science approach. The value of these books
goes well beyond the originality of the analysis of US politics. The books remind us the importance of
three theoretical domains that marked political science and that merit to be further developed: interest
group theory, neo-institutionalism and historical theories of democratization. Then, they shed light on
the current dramatic tensions over representative democracies, well beyond the US exceptionalism.
Hacker and Pierson provide an illuminating analysis of democratic tensions and give insights for the
future research agenda of scholars of western political economies (including Italy and Europe). The
books eventually outline some interesting methodological lines of future research
Multi-Criteria Optimization of Real-Time DAGs on Heterogeneous Platforms under P-EDF
No full textThis paper [3] tackles the problem of optimal placement of complex real-time embedded applications on heterogeneous platforms [7]. Applications are composed of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) of tasks, with each DAG having a minimum inter-arrival period for its activation requests, and an end-to-end deadline within which all of the computations need to terminate since each activation. The platforms of interest are heterogeneous power-aware multicore platforms with DVFS capabilities, including big.LITTLE Arm architectures, and platforms with GPU or FPGA hardware accelerators with Dynamic Partial Reconfiguration capabilities. Tasks can be deployed on CPUs using partitioned EDF-based scheduling. Additionally, some of the tasks may have an alternate implementation available for one of the accelerators on the target platform, which are assumed to serve requests in non-preemptive FIFO order. The system can be optimized by: minimizing the average power consumption, respecting precise timing constraints; maximizing the minimum relative slack among all deployed DAG applications, respecting given power consumption constraints; or even a combination of these, in a multi-objective formulation, obtaining a minimum-power and robust deployment, as demonstrated by the obtained experimental results
La digitalizzazione per la prevenzione e composizione della crisi d'impresa: riflessioni a partire dagli artt. 2086 c.c. e 3 CCII
No full textDistinguishing Armed Resistance from Terrorism Against a Foreign State: The Court of Cassation’s Target-based Approach and the Irrelevance of Locus Commissi Delicti. Note to Corte di Cassazione (Sez. VI Penale), 20 August 2024, No. 32712
No full textEnhanced growth and photosynthetic efficiency in wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia L.) following multi-species microalgal biostimulant application
No full textFoliar spraying is a simple and efficient technique that enables targeted delivery of biostimulants directly onto plant surfaces, minimizing losses and environmental dispersion. Among biostimulant categories, microalgae-based formulations represent an eco-friendly solution to improve crop productivity, thanks to their richness in bioactive compounds and rapid growth in low-input systems. In this study, the crude extract of three green microalgae with high commercial value and broad biotechnological potential—Auxenochlorella protothecoides, Tetradesmus obliquus and Chlamydomonas reinhardtii—along with their consortium, was tested as foliar biostimulants for the first time on wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia L.) at an early vegetative stage. Plants received three sequential treatments, and physiological and biochemical responses were evaluated at 24, 48, and 72 h after the final application. Biostimulation led to up to 32 % increases in fresh biomass and significantly enhanced photosynthetic efficiency (Fv/Fm, PI), particularly in consortium-treated plants. The multi-step application also triggered a late and transient rise in antioxidant compounds (carotenoids and phenolics), potentially improving post-harvest quality. Remarkably, these effects were observed even in the absence of abiotic stress, highlighting the intrinsic biostimulant potential of the treatments. Notably, when the consortium crude extract was applied, higher chlorophyll content, nitrate accumulation, and enhanced nitrogen assimilation (indicated by lower δ15N values) were also observed. These results suggest a compositional and functional uniqueness of the consortium, likely due to interspecies interactions. Overall, early-stage, multi-step foliar biostimulation with selected microalgal species or consortia represents a promising and sustainable strategy to improve crop performance and modulate quality traits in leafy vegetables
