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Cooperating As Peers: Labor Justice Between Distributive and Relational Equality
No full textDespite its relevance, work is underrepresented in debates about social justice. In this way, political philosophy remains distant from real people s lives, and cannot address objectionable forms of work. The thesis contributes to fill in this gap, addressing the problem of labor justice with particular attention to labor inequalities. First, the thesis shows that the resources provided by most contemporary views of justice are only partly equipped to address problems of labor justice. Normative models belonging to various traditions are scrutinized: distributive justice, critical theory, relational egalitarianism, contemporary normative debates about work. The thesis considers each of these models both as a critical interlocutor and as a potential resource in the conceptualization of labor justice. Three paradigmatic cases of labor inequality are thus considered to assess these models through a contributive justice test : dirty work , the gendered division of labor, and technological heteromation. The analysis shows that without some conception of equality, we have no tools to address objectionable forms of division of labor. And in order to avoid a view of meaningful work for the few , concerns for autonomy and freedom are to be complemented with concerns for equality. Second, the thesis suggests an alternative perspective based on the norm of contributive parity . According to this ideal, unjust forms of work are to be changed when they prevent people from contributing to social cooperation as peers, not because they do not meet some inherent meaning of work or fail to fulfill some predefined idea of human nature (pluralism). This way, this conception of labor justice avoids the paternalistic consequences and moral solipsism of some theories of meaningful work, while still defending the need for justice at work. Overall, this norm contributes to shift the focus of the debate from problems of the inherent meaning of work and self-realization, to the problem of fair cooperation. Since requirements of labor justice cannot be met by free occupational choice or income redistribution alone, but relate also to social relationships, decision-making processes, and the nature of tasks and occupations, the thesis advocates a multidimensional conception of labor justice. Contributive parity requires that in order for all to contribute to social cooperation as peers, at least four dimensions of labor justice should be satisfied: economic- distributive (equal freedom from material need for real free occupational choice, and fair access to the product of one s labor as well as to social wealth), social-relational (being treated as equals both in labor interactions and in labor structures), political-democratic (taking part in decisions that concern one s work), and contributive (the quality and quantity of one s labor). Contributive parity is best realized when these dimensions of labor justice are realized jointly: it is not sufficient that wage is fair, one should consider also workers status, voice and contributive justice (multidimensionality). This way, concerns for distributive justice are not merely dismissed, but rather integrated into a more comprehensive framework. The concept of contributive parity is a reinterpretation in the context of labor justice of the norm of participatory parity proposed by Nancy Fraser (2003). The thesis autonomously amends and develops some of her intuitions into the direction of a multidimensional, egalitarian, deontological, and pluralist view of labor justice, while incorporating insights from relational egalitarianism and distributive justice into a more comprehensive framework. Overall, far from offering a fully-fledged theory of labor justice, the ideal of contributive parity is intended to provide a critical-normative standard that helps to assess existing forms of division of labor and competing strategies of labor justice, and therefore to envisage alternative, fair forms of work
Autonomia privata e vincoli di destinazione. I trusts C.D. autodichiarati
No full textL'ammissibilità del trust e del trust autodichiarato in Italia è conforme all ampio margine di autonomia riconosciuto in capo ai privati, alla luce della generale possibilità di concludere contratti atipici ex art. 1322, secondo comma c.c., ed è confermata dalla ratifica della Convenzione dell'Aja del 1985. La diffusa utilizzazione nella prassi ed in svariati ambiti (familiare, successorio, societario, fallimentare, ecc.) dimostrano l'efficienza e l'utilità dell'istituto. Non vanno in ogni caso pregiudicati i diritti dei creditori, tutelati da efficaci rimedi legislativamente disciplinati (azione di nullità, revocatoria, azione ex art. 2929 bis c.c.)
Orbit dynamics studies of injection, acceleration and extraction of high-intensity beams for the upgrade of the INFN-LNS Superconducting Cyclotron
No full textThe nuclear research carried out at the LNS laboratory in Catania is mainly allowed by the ion beams delivered by two ion accelerators, a 15 MV Tandem and a k800 Superconducting Cyclotron (the so-called CS). These accelerators deliver to the INFN-LNS scientific community a large variety of stable ion beams with energies ranging from a few MeV/amu to 80 MeV/amu.
NUMEN, a nuclear physics project born recently at INFN-LNS, proposes the use of the heavy ion induced double charge exchange reactions as a tool to access quantitative information relevant for nuclear matrix elements for neutrinoless double beta decay. The pilot experiment carried out by the NUMEN team at LNS in Catania has already demonstrated that beam power of the order of 1-10 kW of Carbon, Oxigen and Neon with energies in the range 15-70 MeV/amu are mandatory for the NUMEN reaction study. An additional requirement is that the beam energy resolution should not overcome 1/1000 FWHM.
Currently, the maximum CS beam power does not exceed 100 W, so a substantial upgrade of the CS is needed to fulfil the NUMEN requirements. In the frame of the CS upgrade, this thesis is devoted to the simulations of beam dynamics in the LNS cyclotron, with the aim to overcome the current CS limitations and to propose innovative solutions for achieving the beam characteristics in terms of beam power and energy resolution required by the NUMEN project.
In this thesis, one of the main topic is the stripping extraction from the CS. The study has allowed to individuate: i) the stripper foil position for each ion to be extracted by stripping, ii) the transverse dimension and direction of the new extraction channel in the CS to be used for all the ions to be extracted by stripping and iii) the features of the magnetic channels to be installed inside the new extraction channel.
The second subject of this thesis is the beam injection and acceleration up to the extraction in the LNS cyclotron. This study has been possible thanks to the development of the beam tracking model of the INFN-LNS Superconducting Cyclotron, performed in collaboration with the Ion Beam Applications company. This work has shown that the total transmission efficiency from the CS bore injection up to the extraction system, simulating also a process of energy selection outside the CS according to the NUMEN requirement, is only around the 2.7%, a low value compared to the expected value of 15%. The energy selection process is the main cause of the low total efficiency.
We demonstrated that the major contribution to the beam energy spread at the extraction in the LNS cyclotron is due to the large emittance circulating in the LNS cyclotron. The energy gain per turn contributes only partially to the energy spread at the extraction but, in any case, it sets an inferior limit on the minimum energy spread obtainable in the CS cyclotron. This value stays around 0.2%, about the twice of the NUMEN requirement.
This thesis allows also to establish a roadmap of the goals and milestones to be achieved in next months/years. According to the simulation results, the goal of reduction of the beam energy spread at the extraction can be achieved only paying attention on the ion beam production and transport to the CS, since these processes determine the emittance in the horizontal and vertical phase spaces of the beam entering the CS central region. Also a good quality of the accelerated beam will be necessary since an initial beam offset in the central region implies a further increase of the beam energy spread at the extraction. This work has also shown that an increase of the injection efficiency is possible by applying higher dee voltages than the nominal one and modifying slightly the existing central region design. These changes have allowed to increase the injection efficiency up to a factor of about 1.7
Photoresponsive nanosystems for therapeutic applications
No full textOncological and bacterial diseases are certainly the most troubling illnesses of the twenty-first century, and the data in this regard are staggering. Indeed, anticancer chemotherapy is affected by low specificity/selectivity and undesired side effects, and drug resistance phenomena are responsible for the failure of many conventional treatments. Multidrug-resistant-bacteria (MDRB) infection is become another burden to modern healthcare. For such a reason, there is an increasing demand for the development of new strategies for anticancer and antibacterial treatments without antibiotics to save millions of lives every year.1
In this frame, the light-controlled generation of cytotoxic species, such as singlet oxygen (1O2) and nitric oxide (NO), by using appropriate photochemical precursors represents a fascinating and unconventional approach for the treatment of cancerous and microbial diseases in non-invasive manner. However, many precursors have a hydrophobic nature, which favors their aggregation in aqueous medium strongly precluding their photochemical behavior.2 The entrapment of drugs and pro-drugs in nanocarriers permits to overcome all these drawbacks and ensures protection from degradation, site-specific delivery, enhanced bioavailability, increased local concentration.
Here in are reported studies of two different types of nanocarriers carrying different photoactivable guests. The first part of this dissertation focuses on the achievement of novel photoresponsive calix[4]arene-based nanoconstructs which vehicle, by not covalent or covalent approach, different kinds of chromophores. The second part concerns the design, synthesis, antitumoral and antibacterial activity of polymersomes containing a nitric oxide photoprecursor by covalent and non-covalent approach
Enhancing interoperability in industry 4.0
No full textThe research objectives of this thesis consists in the definition of innovative proposal to enhance interoperability in Industry 4.0, IIoT and IoT. The research was focused on the interoperability between communication protocols, due to the knowledge that adoption of communication standards are of paramount importance in Industry 4.0, IIoT and IoT. Furthermore, no one communication standard is globally accepted as reference standard in these contexts. Nevertheless, among the various standard taken in consideration in literature, OPC UA international standard (IEC 62541) seems to be one of the leading candidates to become a reference standard. As for example, "Reference Architecture Model for Industrie 4.0" (RAMI 4.0) indicates for OPC UA the role to standardise machine-to-machine communication. Another example is the "Industrial Internet Reference Architecture" (IIRA), defined by the Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC), where OPC UA plays a strategic role as it is one of the core connectivity standards.
For this reason, the research has investigated the enhancement of interoperability in Industry 4.0, IoT and IIoT through improvements based on OPC UA.
First of all, the research was focused on the realisation of a proposal enabling the interoperability between OPC UA and generic users not compliant with OPC UA standard; in particular, it has been assumed to propose a way to allow the interaction between OPC UA and devices or applications using web technologies and without any knowledge of the standard. The realization of this integration has been achieved through the definition of a novel data model mapping the OPC UA Information Model, based on common web data-formats (e.g. JSON). This proposal has been called Integration between OPC UA and the Web .
After that, the research focus has been enlarged to propose a solution enabling the interoperability between OPC UA and IoT/IIoT ecosystems. Among the current IoT/IIoT ecosystems, OCF has been chosen for the integration with OPC UA, as it seems a promising solution to standardise the exchange of information into IoT as explained before. The solution mainly aims to realise a mapping between OPC UA and OCF information models and has been called Integration between OPC UA and OCF . Through this mapping, information maintained by an OPC UA Server may be used to populate a device compliant to OCF specifications which acts as a server, allowing it to expose this information to whatever client device in the OCF ecosystem. Vice versa, information maintained by an OCF Device may be published by an OPC UA Server allowing to make this information available to whatever OPC UA-compliant device
Studio della sorgente del tremore vulcanico al mt. Etna mediante analisi quantitativa multiparametrica ed inversione del tensore momento.
No full textUNRAVELLING VOLCANIC TREMOR SOURCE AT MOUNT ETNA FROM QUANTITATIVE MULTIPARAMETRIC ANALYSIS AND MOMENT TENSOR INVERSION
Developments of multiparametric monitoring networks, real time analysis techniques and the acquisition of high-resolution data, have allowed to improve the knowledge of the structures and dynamics that characterize the active volcanoes. To understand the dynamics of an active volcano, it is possible to proceed with two different types of studies: i) multiparametric studies based on the joint analysis of different data (such as geophysical, geochemical, petrological data); ii) detailed studies concerning specific data.
In order to understand source volcanic tremor at Mt. Etna volcano, volcanic tremor recorded during the vigorous summit of 2011-2012 was analyzed. In particular, this thesis shows the results obtained from the investigation of the volcanic tremor source through a duplex study: i) a multiparametric study based on the quantitative comparison between different time series such as volcanic tremor amplitudes and geochemical data such as soil CO2 flux and the SO2 flux at summit craters; ii) a moment tensor inversion analysis of volcanic tremor recorded during a lava fountain episode of the considered period. For these studies, data acquired from the multiparametric monitoring network managed by Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia were used.The quantitative comparison between seismic and geochemical data was performed in order to identify and quantitatively estimate similar trends variations between the compared time series, both synchronous and characterized by time lags. To this end, four different analysis techniques have been implemented, such as Cross-Correlation, Randomized Cross-Correlation, wavelet analysis and linear regression. The obtained results allowed to infer pressurization and depressurization dynamics of the plumbing system during the different eruptive phases observed during the considered period. The moment tensor inversion analysis of the volcanic tremor recorded at Mt. Etna represents a novelty. Specifically, this analysis was applied to volcanic tremor recorded during the lava fountain episode that occurred on 5 August 2011, one of the most vigorous of the 25 episodes that characterized the 2011-2012 period. The results allowed to highlight a source mechanism generated by a sub-horizontal crack near the summit crater area, which can be interpreted as a valve through which gas-rich magma is ejected during the lava fountain activities
Constrained Optimization Problems in Network Models
No full textOperations Research is the field of mathematics that deals with solving various application problems. Constrained optimization problems are one of the most important and useful fields of mathematics, particularly in Operations Research.
In this thesis, we focus our attention on some mathematical models that are decision problems and which are all based on networks and applied to different real situations.
We analyze different thematic areas such as Cloud Computing, Financial Market, Business Management and Cybersecurity and for each of them we formulate the associated linear or nonlinear constrained problems which allows us to solve the decision problems related to the specific applications.
The purpose of one of our mathematical models, in this thesis, is to represent a cloud environment. This mathematical model could allows us to identify a rational strategy for reaching a final goal, which is to maximize the Iaas provider's profit. We get a mixed-Integer nonlinear programming problem, which can be solved through the proposed computational algorithm. A second step is the linearization of the problem. The effectiveness of the model and of the algorithm is tested, by comparing the final data with the results obtained by solving the linearized problem through an existing software.
Another topic we have dealt with in depth in this thesis is the financial market. We studied some optimization models based on networks which allow us to formulate two new multi-period portfolio selection problems as Markowitz mean-variance optimization problems with intermediaries, and therefore with transaction costs, the addition of capital gains tax, but also with short selling and transfer of securities.
We proposed two constrained Integer nonlinear programming problems with which it is possible to establish if and when it is suitable to buy and to sell financial securities, not only while maximizing the profits, but also while minimizing the risk (through the use of a weight). We applied the Lagrange theory and analyzed the variational inequality studying an optimization model for business management and cybersecurity investments
Proteomic analysis of the metabolic fractions in modern and old wheat genotypes: a qualitative and quantitative comparison
No full textWheat, due to its adaptability to a wide range of environments and for the unique functional properties of its flour, represents the most widely grown, processed, and consumed cereal by humankind of temperate regions. Most of the modern wheat genotypes are derived from old wheats and have appreciable properties in terms of grain yield. Wheat is also the causing factors of many adverse reactions, such as celiac disease, allergies and non-celiac wheat sensitivity (NCWS) in susceptible people. This has led to an increasing interest for the old wheat genotypes which are generally considered better tolerated than the modern ones, but without any scientific evidence. The aim of the present work is the qualitative and quantitative comparison by a proteomic approach of the metabolic protein fractions extracted from the mature kernel of two old Sicilian durum wheat landraces (Russello and Timilia reste bianche), and Simeto, an improved durum wheat variety, widely spread in Italy and other Mediterranean countries, chosen as representative of the most widely commercial cultivars. The qualitative comparison of the protein composition revealed a remarkable similarity between old and modern cultivar. The quantitative evaluation of the identified proteins shows that some proteins are differentially expressed in old and modern varieties
Transparent Conductors based on Ag Nanolayer embedded in Semiconductor Oxides
No full textAim of this work is the fabrication, processing and characterization of ultrathin TCO/Ag/TCO transparent electrodes. The study, is also focused on the optimization of structural, optical and electrical properties for several applications. The thesis is organized as follows: Chapter 1: it introduces the optoelectronic devices and their optical and electrical properties. Chapter 2: it presents a detailed discussion of the basic electronic structures and optical properties of TCO materials emphasizing the key properties giving them some unique properties. Chapter 3: it treats of very thin TCO/Ag/TCO multilayer structures grown by RF magnetron sputtering. Synthesis and properties of TCO/Ag/TCO multilayers as a function of different combinations of AZO and ITO top and bottom TCO layers, and as function of the Ag film thickness, are investigated. Chapter 4: it describes the compatibility of the AZO/Ag/AZO multilayers with some practical applications
Studio di composti bioattivi e dei geni coinvolti nella loro biosintesi in Punica granatum L
No full textIl frutto della pianta di melograno è un importante alimento nutraceutico ricco di composti fenolici. Caratteristiche morfologiche di diverse accessioni siciliane e internazionali di melograno sono state analizzate sul frutto e parametri fisico-chimici, contenuto fenolico totale (TPC), attività antiossidante (AA), zuccheri e minerali sono stati valutati sul succo. Nuovi marcatori SSR polimorfici coinvolti nella via delle antocianine sono stati identificati e studiati in aggiunta a SSR presenti in letteratura, al fine di analizzare la diversità genetica tra le cv. Inoltre, la fisiologia della germinazione dei semi è stata studiata valutandone la risposta a trattamenti con acido gibberellico e con KNO3. Il profilo polifenolico, comprendente antocianine e tannini idrolizzabili è stato rilevato mediante LC-PDA Orbitrap FTMS in diversi succhi di melograno, in foglie, fiori e durante le fasi di sviluppo del frutto delle cv Wonderful (WD) e Valenciana (VL), differenti per il colore degli arilli. Inoltre, l effetto della sovraespressione del complesso regolatorio della biosintesi dei flavonoidi, MYB-bHLH-WD40, è stato studiato mediante agroinfiltrazione su diversi gruppi metabolici di Nicotiana benthamiana. Il livello di espressione di alcuni geni coinvolti nella via delle antocianine è stato esaminato in foglie, fiori e durante le fasi di sviluppo del frutto del melograno di entrambe le accessioni colorate. Lo studio ha evidenziato un elevata diversità tra i genotipi siciliani, i quali si sono differenziati rispetto ai genotipi internazionali in resa in arilli e in succo, mostrando valori più alti rispetto a Wonderful One (WDI), ed inoltre significative differenze sono emerse anche in TPC e AA. Glucosio e fruttosio si sono confermati i principali zuccheri presenti nel succo con rapporto glucosio/fruttosio tra 0,9 e 1,3. Tra i minerali analizzati il potassio è risultato l elemento più abbondante. Una correlazione è stata riscontrata tra i dati morfologici, biochimici e gli SSR, mentre un'alta percentuale di germinazione è stata osservata in alcuni dei genotipi siciliani. Differenze significative nei composti fenolici sono state trovate tra i diversi succhi esaminati, in particolare WD ha mostrato il maggiore quantitativo di antocianine, mentre le punicalagine sono risultate prevalenti nel succo di WDI. Inoltre, VL ha mostrato alcune caratteristiche bioagronomiche e di composizione del succo simili a quelle di alcuni dei genotipi siciliani studiati, ma differenti da WD. Interessanti risultati sono emersi dall analisi metabolomica dei composti fenolici in foglie, in fiori e in diverse fasi di sviluppo del frutto delle due accessioni. In particolare, in ambedue le cv, durante l accrescimento degli arilli, è stato osservato un aumento del contenuto di antocianine e una diminuzione di tannini idrolizzabili, mentre a maturazione commerciale gli arilli di WD risultavano più ricchi in derivati della cianidina e delfinidina, differenziandosi da quelli di VL più ricchi in pelargonidin-3-glucoside. Tra i geni studiati mediante agroinfiltrazione nelle foglie di N. benthamiana, PgMYB2&PgbHLH ha determinato una produzione significativa di diidroflavonoli tipici della via dei flavonoidi. Dalle successive prove di espressione genica durante le fasi di sviluppo del frutto di melograno è emerso che l espressione di PgMYB2 diminuisce con la maturazione degli arilli, prevalentemente espresso nel fiore ed in parte nel frutto immaturo. Questi risultati insieme a quelli della sovraespressione in Nicotiana suggeriscono che i geni PgMYB2 e PgbHLH siano coinvolti nelle prime fasi della via di biosintesi delle antocianine nella produzione di flavonoidi, ed in particolare di diidroflavonoli. Di contro, i livelli di espressione di PgMYB1, PgMYB1.2, PgCHS, PgF3'5'H, PgDFR e PgUFGT che aumentano con lo sviluppo del frutto della cv WD, seguendo lo stesso andamento delle antocianine, suggeriscono che questi geni siano coinvolti nella biosintesi delle antocianine