University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
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Who defaults during COVID-19? evidence from local lockdown restrictions
No full textWe examine whether geographically heterogeneous COVID-19 lockdown restrictions affected household credit risk using a proprietary dataset of over 42,000 personal loans from an Italian financial institution. Exploiting local variation in the intensity of local lockdown restrictions, we find that stricter local restrictions significantly increased the likelihood of borrower default. The effect is heterogeneous across borrower characteristics, being stronger even among high-credit-score borrowers and attenuated for homeowners. Our results are robust to alternative specifications, including geographic exclusions of metropolitan areas. Taken together, our findings show that localized public health interventions had meaningful and uneven financial consequences, with implications for targeted credit risk and social protection policies
La Cina (è donna) nel Settecento. Sguardi di genere ed esotismo nella cultura letteraria e teatrale italiana
No full textTerminal ulcers in end-of-life care: a scoping review
No full textBackground In the final stage of life, the skin may fail, leading to the development of terminal ulcers. These ulcers are considered unavoidable, since they occur despite all pressure-relieving interventions being implemented and the best quality of care being provided. However, they are often misdiagnosed as pressure injuries, since healthcare professionals are not always adequately prepared for this topic. Thus, effective palliative care and palliative wound care is not provided and prevalence data is missed, despite it being considered a solid indicator of the quality of nursing care. Since the goals of palliative and standard care differ, failing to correctly identify the underlying cause of the ulcer may result in the skin injury being treated inappropriately, and the overall needs of the patient and their family not being accurately addressed. While palliative care settings are probably more accustomed to this type of assessment, recognising and accepting this situation could be more challenging in other clinical settings. The aim of this work is to summarise the current knowledge regarding terminal ulcers. Specifically, the researchers seek to provide a comprehensive overview of the concept of unavoidability, the terminology employed in relation to terminal ulcers, the diagnostic criteria and assessment tools, the prevention and management of such ulcers, their aetiology, and the understanding clinicians have regarding this topic. Methods To achieve this goal a scoping review was performed. Following Arksey and O'Malley's framework and Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines, we systematically searched the PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, Embase, Google Scholar, ProQuest databases, up to March 2025, without time or methodological limitations. The review incorporated studies that explicitly referenced terminal injuries occurring at the end of life, written in English. The study encompasses all patients in all healthcare settings. A narrative synthesis was performed. Results Twenty-six studies were included in the analysis. The review summarises the huge amount of terminology applied to terminal ulcers and identifies multiple potential aetiologies. Diagnostic criteria were outlined, and considerations regarding the prevention, management, and professional education were discussed. The need for validation of assessment tools and clearer diagnostic criteria was highlighted. Conclusions This review maps current evidence on terminal ulcers and identifies significant gaps. Future research should focus on healthcare professionals' training, communication skills, and the early recognition and prevention of these lesions to promote dignity in end-of-life care. Nurses are responsible for the proper identification and management of terminal wounds, which raises ethical concerns about the quality of care and the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. Although correct identification may affect reimbursement, ensuring the best possible care and a dignified end-of-life process remains the priority
Integrating Design of Simulation Experiments and Machine Learning to Predict the Local Secondary Dendrite Arm Spacing for Recycled AlSi7 Cast Parts
No full textCasting simulations are essential for designing cast parts together with their foundry equipment, as they allow prediction of nonuniform mechanical properties resulting from solidification dynamics. However, when using secondary alloys, accounting for all potential composition variations becomes impractical due to excessive simulation times required. This study investigates the relationship between alloying composition variations and mechanical properties in secondary AlSi7 casting alloys using a database of simulations and a Machine Learning (ML) approach. Secondary Dendrite Arm Spacing (SDAS) is adopted as representative of mechanical properties due to its strong correlation with strength and ductility in cast aluminum parts. The Design of Simulation Experiments (DOSE) uses a spherical casting geometry with varying diameters to capture local phenomena across different solidification times. The alloy compositions in the DOSE reflect the natural variability characteristic of secondary AlSi7 feedstock. The resulting dataset captures the influence of alloying elements on SDAS across diverse thermal conditions. A ML model was trained on this data to predict SDAS based solely on alloy composition, thereby avoiding the need for extensive additional simulations. This approach enables robust design of foundry equipment involving recycled aluminum, where the ability to optimize performance despite composition fluctuations is essential for maintaining product quality
Effetto delle materie prime, dell'umidità e della tipologia dei leganti sul processo di granulazione di fertilizzanti e ammendanti.
No full textIl dottorato industriale è stato realizzato in collaborazione con LB Officine Meccaniche S.p.A., azienda italiana specializzata nei processi di macinazione e granulazione.
Il progetto aveva l’obiettivo di indagare l’influenza sulla granulazione dei fertilizzanti delle materie prime, degli additivi/leganti, per ampliare il know-how di LB sulla loro produzione e sviluppare un nuovo settore merceologico.
La prima fase dello studio ha valutato gli effetti della composizione delle materie prime inorganiche (MAP/DAP), degli additivi e dei parametri di processo sulla resa, la morfologia e la porosità dei microgranuli. Materie prime ad alta purezza e con presenza di fini pari al 15–20% aumentano l’efficienza di granulazione. L’ aggiunta di MnCl2 incrementa la compattezza dei granuli riducendo l’umidità di granulazione, il consumo energetico e le emissioni di CO2. L’acido umico agisce come legante aumentando le rese di produzione, mentre la lignina riduce la coesione e la crescita dei granuli. Prove industriali con MAP + acido umico + ZnSO4 hanno raggiunto elevate rese (~90%), confermando la scalabilità e l’ottimizzazione del processo.
La seconda fase ha indagato l’influenza delle materie prime naturali, dei coating e dei leganti (binders) sulla produzione di macrogranuli. Sono stati testati tre leganti con diversa solubilità in acqua - lignosolfonato di Ca, amido modificato e CMC - analizzandone il loro impatto su nucleazione, crescita e resistenza dei macrogranuli. Materie prime ad alta purezza e granulometria inferiore a 400 μm favoriscono una granulazione uniforme. Il lignosolfonato di Ca aiuta la produzione, riducendo l’uso di legante e l’energia di essiccazione. Polveri fini richiedono maggiori quantità di legante, mentre quelle grossolane producono granuli più resistenti ma meno solubili. Si è confermata la relazione inversa tra porosità e durezza dei macrogranuli. La macinazione di materiali con coating ne incrementa le rese di produzione evidenziando l’efficienza del lignosolfonato come legante.
La fase finale si è concentrata sullo sviluppo di fertilizzanti a rilascio controllato ottenuti da materie prime di scarto, con l’obiettivo di migliorare l’efficienza nutrizionale e la sostenibilità. Miscele sperimentali N–P–K sono state prodotte a partire da scarti di pomice, sangue (liquido/essiccato) e farina d’ossa mediante prove di granulazione su scala di laboratorio e semi-industriale. Il rilascio dei nutrienti è stato testato in acido citrico e acetico al 2% per simulare le condizioni della rizosfera e della pioggia acida. La formulazione ottimizzata ha mostrato un rilascio controllato dei macronutrienti—8% dopo 24 ore e 73% dopo 90 giorni—garantendo un apporto graduale di nutrienti. Le prove agronomiche su lattuga hanno confermato un incremento della biomassa rispetto ai controlli non fertilizzati e ai fertilizzanti convenzionali. L’impiego di sottoprodotti zootecnici e residui minerali ha permesso la realizzazione di SRF a basso costo, scalabili e con buone proprietà meccaniche e ridotto impatto ambientale.
Basandosi sulle evidenze sperimentali si è realizzato un nuovo granulatore per la produzione di fertilizzanti microgranulari. L’analisi dei parametri di processo—velocità di barra e botte, pressione di atomizzazione, geometria dell’ugello e grado di riempimento botte—sono stati correlati a durezza, morfologia, distribuzione dimensionale dei microgranuli e problematiche produttive supportando la progettazione e la tutela brevettuale dei sistemi autopulenti porta ugelli e pulizia botte nonché del circuito idraulico dei leganti.The industrial PhD was carried out in collaboration with LB Officine Meccaniche S.p.A., an Italian company specialized in milling and granulation technologies.
The project aimed to investigate the influence of raw materials, additives, and binders on the granulation behaviour of fertilizers, with the goal of expanding the company’s know-how in fertilizer production and developing a new industrial field.
The first phase of the study evaluated the effects of inorganic raw material composition (MAP/DAP), additives, and process parameters on the yield, morphology, and compactness of microgranules. High-purity raw materials containing 15–20% of fines powders enhanced granulation efficiency. The addition of MnCl2 increased granule compactness while reducing moisture demand in granulation, energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Humic acid acted as a natural binder, improving granulation yield, whereas lignum reduced cohesion and growth. Industrial-scale tests using MAP + humic acid + ZnSO4 achieved high yields (~90%), confirming process scalability and optimization.
The second phase investigated the influence of natural raw materials, coatings and different binders on macrogranule formation. Three binders with distinct water solubilities—calcium lignosulfonate, modified starch, and carboxymethyl cellulose—were tested to assess their impact on nucleation, growth, and granule strength. High-purity powders with particle sizes below 400 μm promoted more uniform granulation. Calcium lignosulfonate proved particularly effective, reducing both binder demand and drying energy. Finer powders required higher binder content, while coarser powders generated stronger but less soluble granules. An inverse relationship between porosity and mechanical strength was confirmed. Milling of coated materials increased granulation yield and highlighting the efficiency of calcium lignosulfonate as a binder.
The final phase focused on the development of slow-release fertilizers (SRFs) derived from waste-based raw materials, aimed at improving nutrient efficiency and process sustainability. Experimental N–P–K mixtures were produced from pumice scraps, animal blood (liquid and dried), and bone meal, through laboratory and semi-industrial granulation trials. Nutrient release was evaluated in 2% citric and acetic acid solutions to simulate rhizospheric and acid rain conditions. The optimized formulation exhibited controlled macronutrient release—8% after 24 h and 73% after 90 days—ensuring a gradual nutrient supply. Agronomic trials on lettuce confirmed an increase in biomass compared to both unfertilized and conventionally fertilized controls. The use of animal by-products and mineral residues enabled the production of low-cost, scalable SRFs with good mechanical properties and reduced environmental impact.
Based on the experimental evidence, a new granulator was designed and built, specifically suited for the production of microgranular fertilizers. The analysis of process parameters—including impeller and drum speed, atomization pressure, nozzle geometry, and drum filling level—was correlated with granule hardness, morphology, particle size distribution, and operational performance. These studies supported the design and patenting of self-cleaning nozzle bar and drum systems and an optimized binder atomization circuit, representing a significant technological advancement toward sustainable fertilizer production
ReAG: Reasoning-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-based Visual Question Answering
No full textMultimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs) have shown impressive capabilities in jointly understanding text, images, and videos, often evaluated via Visual Question Answering (VQA). However, even state-of-the-art MLLMs struggle with domain-specific or knowledge-intensive queries, where relevant information is underrepresented in pre-training data. Knowledge-based VQA (KB-VQA) addresses this by retrieving external documents to condition answer generation, but current retrieval-augmented approaches suffer from low precision, noisy passages, and limited reasoning. To address this, we propose ReAG, a novel Reasoning-Augmented Multimodal RAG approach that combines coarse- and fine-grained retrieval with a critic model that filters irrelevant passages, ensuring high-quality additional context. The model follows a multi-stage training strategy leveraging reinforcement learning to enhance reasoning over retrieved content, while supervised fine-tuning serves only as a cold start. Extensive experiments on Encyclopedic-VQA and InfoSeek demonstrate that ReAG significantly outperforms prior methods, improving answer accuracy and providing interpretable reasoning grounded in retrieved evidence. Our source code is publicly available at: https://github.com/aimagelab/ReAG
Geopolitical risk in financial markets: an analysis of commodity hedging and stock returns in Europe
No full textAgainst the backdrop of rising geopolitical uncertainty and increased commodity market volatility, this paper aims to quantify European firms' exposure to commodity price risk and to examine the effects of hedging by means of commodity derivatives. The empirical analysis is based on pooled OLS on a balanced dataset of 57 publicly listed firms operating in commodity-intensive sectors, over the period 2010–2024. Results can be summarized as follows. First, European firms exhibit a statistically significant exposure to commodity price risk, which is on average positive for Oil & Gas, Materials and Industrial Products firms, and on average negative for Utilities. Further, a year-by-year analysis reveals that around major geopolitical events (e.g. the 2014 oil price collapse and the 2022 Russia–Ukraine conflict), the proportion of firms with statistically significant exposure tends to increase. Second, the role of commodity hedging varies substantially across sectors: while hedging significantly reduces the long-run exposure to commodity price risk in the Materials and Utilities sectors, during the Russia–Ukraine war it is associated with lower stock returns in the Oil & Gas sector and with higher stock returns in the Industrial Products sector. These results highlight the importance of actively managing commodity price risk, particularly during periods of heightened geopolitical uncertainty, and the valuable yet heterogeneous role of hedging strategies across sectors and market conditions