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The principle of sustainable development and its justiciability
Get PDFLa sopravvivenza della specie umana è divenuta una delle principali preoccupazioni della società contemporanea.
L’affermazione, durante i secoli, di un paradigma fondato sulla supremazia dell’uomo rispetto alla natura ha determinato la proliferazione di pratiche di sfruttamento dell’ambiente per il soddisfacimento dei bisogni individuali. L’avvento di nuove tecnologie di produzione e dell’utilizzo di combustibili fossili ha contribuito allo scoppio della Rivoluzione Industriale di fine ‘700, i cui effetti hanno determinato la nascita della società globalizzata e dei consumi, accompagnando l’essere umano in una nuova epoca geologica, l’Antropocene. In essa, si assiste al raggiungimento della supremazia della specie umana, la quale non è più, al pari degli altri elementi del Pianeta, un agente biologico, ma una vera e propria forza geologica in grado di alterarne gli equilibri.
Ciò ha reso possibile la presa di coscienza in ordine alla finitezza delle risorse naturali e alle difficoltà legate alla loro rigenerazione. È emersa, così, la preoccupazione che le attività di degradazione dell’ambiente potessero comprometterne in maniera irreversibile la tenuta, palesando il timore che le generazioni del domani non possano godere di un ambiente idoneo al soddisfacimento dei propri bisogni o, addirittura, che non possano nemmeno venire ad esistenza.
È in questo contesto che il principio dello sviluppo sostenibile ha incominciato ad affermarsi. Esso è stato elaborato allo scopo di promuovere una forma di sviluppo fondata sulla rimodulazione del rapporto uomo-natura, al fine di salvaguardare l’ambiente secondo una prospettiva ispirata alla inter-generazionalità. L’assunto che lo caratterizza è quello per cui i membri di una data società non dovrebbero utilizzare più risorse di quante ne rinnovano, così da permettere alle generazioni future di godere di quanto necessario per soddisfare i propri bisogni.
Il presente elaborato, pertanto, si propone di effettuare uno studio sulla rilevanza costituzionale del principio dello sviluppo sostenibile e sulla sua giustiziabilità.The survival of the human species has become a major concern of contemporary society.
The establishment, over the centuries, of a paradigm based on the supremacy of man over nature has resulted in the proliferation of practices of exploiting the environment for the satisfaction of individual needs. The advent of new production technologies and the use of fossil fuels contributed to the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, the effects of which led to the emergence of globalized society and consumption, accompanying human beings into a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. In it, we witness the achievement of the supremacy of the human species, which is no longer, like the other elements of the Planet, a biological agent, but a real geological force capable of altering its balance.
This has made possible an awareness in regard to the finiteness of natural resources and the difficulties associated with their regeneration. Thus, concern emerged that activities to degrade the environment could irreversibly compromise its resilience, manifesting the fear that future generations would not be able to enjoy an environment suitable for the satisfaction of their needs or, even, that they might not even come into existence.
It is in this context that the principle of sustainable development began to take hold. It was developed with the aim of promoting a form of development based on the reshaping of the human-nature relationship in order to safeguard the environment from an inter-generational perspective. Its assumption is that members of a given society should not use more resources than they renew, so that future generations can enjoy what they need to meet their needs.
This work, therefore, aims to make a study of the constitutional relevance of the principle of sustainable development and its justiciability
New insights on clinical features, clinicopathological abnormalities, diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of canine Cushing’s Syndrome
Get PDFThe thesis explores various facets of canine hypercortisolism (HC), commonly known as Cushing's syndrome, which affects 1-2 cases per 1000 dogs annually. Initially, it provides a comprehensive overview covering clinical manifestations, diagnostic methods, and treatment options for HC. A particular focus is given to severe muscle stiffness (SMS), a poorly understood clinical sign associated with HC, with an in-depth analysis of a cohort experiencing both HC and SMS, revealing it as a rare condition affecting only dogs with pituitary-dependent hypercortisolism (PDH)without impacting life expectancy. Furthermore, the thesis investigates the relationship between HC and calcium homeostasis, uncovering elevated phosphate levels and parathyroid hormone concentrations in dogs with HC, affirming cortisol's impact on calcium balance.
Diagnostic challenges in HC are highlighted due to the lack of a gold standard test, often resulting in false-positive or false-negative results. A survey among Western European primary care veterinarians reveals varying diagnostic approaches, raising concerns about potential overdiagnosis and lack of differentiation among cases, emphasizing the need for improved education in the field.
Trilostane emerges as the preferred medical treatment for PDH, with ongoing debates regarding monitoring methods. While trilostane effectively manages most cases, a portion of dogs does not respond positively, with factors such as alopecia and ultrasound-detected adrenomegaly associated with poor response.
The thesis also delves into alternative pituitary drug therapies targeting dopamine receptors, with cabergoline showing promise in inhibiting pituitary tumor growth when associated with trilostane.
Overall, the thesis provides a multifaceted examination of HC in dogs, addressing clinical, diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic aspects while shedding light on the complexities and challenges involved in its management
Models development of new cells protection for electrostatic discharges integrated in smart power technology
Get PDFIn this thesis, a TCAD approach for the investigation of the safe operating area and the power to failure performances of trading ESD protection is presented. The proposed approach is used to investigate power to failure condition for very short stress times, under 1ns, comparing the theoretical expected trends to the predicted and measured ones of the device under test. The physical reasoning of the lack in performance experiences in the proposed devices is presented together with a possible solution. The same proposed approach is applied also to other devices to study their holding voltage condition in correlation with the failure. In the first part of this thesis, a detailed review of the ESD models and characterization techniques is presented together with the physical models that are peculiar of and ESD event. In addition, ESD physics and operational mode of basic components is explained. In the second part, the operating conditions of a new ESD clamp based on BJT transistors is presented. The main physical mechanisms that drive the bipolar transistors into failure conditions during a very fast stress are analyzed and further investigated through geometrical modifications. In the third part, a conventional SCR-LDMOS ESD clamp is investigated as case study to learn the role played by the physical mechanisms and the two bipolar transistors when the device is in holding-voltage conditions. Several layout and geometrical modifications have been performed on the standard device to study and show the effect over the IV curve and the resulting failure conditions
Deciphering the role of IL-1 signaling as an escape pathway in EGFR-dependent head & neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC): implications for treatment.
Get PDFTumours stemming from the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, salivary gland, and nasal cavity are collectively placed under Head and Neck Cancer. Overexpressed EGFR accounts for nearly 90% of Head and Neck Cancer. Cetuximab – a chimeric monoclonal antibody was designed to target the extracellular domain III of the EGFR to curtail tumour proliferation. Cetuximab + radiation is the standard therapy for metastatic Head and Neck Cancer, yet, relapse is marked by the aggressive progression of the disease and with a poor survival rate. Patient data acknowledge the role of IL-1 signaling in determining the overall survival in patients. Thus, it becomes imperative to establish the crucial role played by IL-1 cytokines in determining the overall tumorigenesis. In our study, the main intent is to decipher the role played by IL-1 signaling and to overhaul the current treatment strategies with the intention of improving their efficacy. We employed the FaDu tumour cell line and combinatorial drug action by employing both anti-EGFR and anti-IL-1/IL1R1 inhibitors concurrently and found to be more effective in the arrest of overall tumour proliferation compared to mono-therapy (anti-EGFR) alone. We ascertain that combinatorial drug action was found to be effective compared to monotherapy using classical anti-EGFR. Independently, we defined the efficacy of a laboratory-designed anti-IL-1 decoy receptor named human TRAP IL-1 in neutralizing the free IL-1 ligands and the aftermath effects in cells. The results demonstrated the neutralization of IL-1 by TRAP IL-1 besides EGFR boiled down the overall proliferative potential of tumour cells. Summarizing our finding, we verified that IL-1 signaling aids and abets in the proliferation of tumour cells alongside EGFR signaling, thus making both EGFR and IL-1/IL1R1 coupled targets and amending the current treatment strategy with the induction of anti-IL-1/IL1R1 on par with anti-EGFR might increase Progression-Free Survival and Overall Survival in patients
New developments and applications based on a numerical model for the optimisation of the centred gear skiving process
Get PDFGear skiving, known for its high productivity in manufacturing internal gears, has become increasingly popular. Due to complexities including tool profile calculation, kinematics, and variable cutting conditions, and its relatively recent adoption, there is still a lack of in-depth knowledge about the process. Consequently, gear practitioners often rely on their own experience when developing new cutting strategies to mitigate specific process issues and reduce tool wear.
The initial focus of this work is on a thorough literature review of the research and development activities related to gear skiving that was previously missing. Then, a numerical program for the geometric simulation of the process has been developed, enabling analysis of the interplay between setup parameters, and cutting conditions. The simulation has led to new insights and cutting strategies that reduce cumulative machined total cutting length, while keeping the cycle time unchanged or reduced, without significantly impacting the tool load. Experimental tests on annealed steel gears have confirmed that these strategies can reduce tool wear by up to 50%.
Furthermore, the novel numerical program has been developed to assess the impact of re-sharpening conical tools on the process. Re-sharpening alters tip diameter and profile of conical tools, affecting cutting performance over their service life. The study identifies tools sensitive to this phenomenon and introduces a strategy to minimize performance variations, validated by experiments.
Finally, this work introduces a novel design methodology for skiving tools using screw theory, a concept previously unexplored in skiving literature. Unlike traditional experience-based design methods, this approach selects the number of teeth, helix angle, and tip diameter based on qualitative indices to enhance tool productivity and cutting conditions. New equations for the tool operating pitch diameter are derived, providing insights into the implications of tip diameter on the full process. While still under investigation, this methodology shows promise
Essays on economics of adaptation to climate change
Get PDFThis PhD thesis consists of three essays in environmental economics, with focus on the adaptation to climate change. The first work provides a multi-country, comparative analysis of how income and climate drive air-conditioning adoption in four developing economies. We show that the decision to purchase air-conditioning in response to warmer climatic conditions is strongly anchored to a household’s socio-economic conditions. Moreover, although the penetration of air-conditioning is expected to increase in the future, millions of less well-off electrified households that need but cannot obtain air conditioners will remain. The second paper tests whether remittances can relax such credit constraints to facilitate the heat adaptation process in emerging economies. We rely on household data from 2008 to 2018 for Mexico, and an instrumental variable approach for dealing with the potential endogeneity of remittance income. We find that remittance income plays a key role in the adaptation process, particularly for families living in the coastal areas, and with low-income. We conclude computing the potential private benefits of this form of adaptation. The third paper examines the effectiveness of alternative cooling technologies in mitigating mortality impacts from extreme heat in India. To do so, we combine rich longitudinal household data with district-level mortality data and high-resolution meteorological information. We employ micro-panel fixed-effects regression to identify the effect of temperature as quasi-random assigned. Our empirical results highlight a critical trade-off in heat adaptation. While we find that the expensive air-conditioning proves to be highly effective in reducing temperature-related mortality, its ownership and use remains low, predominantly limited to high-income cities. In contrast, many Indian households, including low-income ones, purchase cheaper coolers, which we find offering substantially reduced protection against heat stress. This has important implications in terms of number of lives saved, economic benefits, and adaptation policies
Pre-service teachers and STEM: attitudes and gender stereotypes among primary education students at Bologna University
Get PDFUn crescente filone di studi in letteratura indaga da tempo le cause della sottorappresentazione femminile nelle STEM, in particolare nelle professioni tecnologiche. Gli stereotipi di genere svolgono un ruolo rilevante, minando la fiducia e l'autoefficacia delle bambine nell’apprendimento fin dalla prima infanzia. Il divario digitale di genere nell’educazione è collegato a varie conseguenze negative, tra cui scelte scolastiche ed accademiche maggiormente dirette verso gli studi umanistici, che precludono alle ragazze il conseguimento di carriere STEM, contribuendo così nel lungo periodo a differenze sostanziali di retribuzione e ad una maggiore disoccupazione femminile.
Questa tesi si propone dunque di indagare gli atteggiamenti impliciti, le opinioni e le conoscenze di un campione di insegnanti pre-service, al fine di comprendere se la loro preparazione sia adeguata ad equipaggiarli per la loro futura professione. Dalla triangolazione dei diversi strumenti utilizzati, appare evidente la necessità di investire maggiormente nella formazione per un’istruzione inclusiva e paritaria, come anche raccomandato dalla normativa locale e internazionale.A growing body of literature has long investigated the causes of women's underrepresentation in STEM, particularly in technology professions. Gender stereotypes play an important role, undermining girls' confidence and self-efficacy in learning since early childhood. The digital gender gap in education is linked to various negative consequences, including school and academic choices more oriented towards the humanities, which preclude girls from pursuing STEM careers, thus contributing in the long run to substantial gender pay gap and higher female unemployment.
This thesis therefore aims to investigate the implicit attitudes, opinions, and knowledge of a sample of pre-service teachers, in order to understand whether their training is adequate to equip them for their future profession. From the triangulation of the different tools used, the need to invest more in training seems evident for an inclusive and equal education, as recommended by local and international legislation
Performance optimization methods for multiple-input 5G transmitters
Get PDFThe objective of the thesis is to analyze the possibility of exploiting the additional degrees of freedom in multi-input (MI) power amplifier (PA) topologies to improve their trade-offs among the main figures of merit: linearity, efficiency, and power. The proposed algorithms were tested on three different MI PA topologies, each presenting different optimization challenges and objectives.
On a PA array, a beam-dependent digital predistortion (BD-DPD) algorithm was tested to enhance the linearity of the system under varying PA load conditions, by adjusting the beam direction. The method is based on machine learning and allows a low-complexity real-time update of the DPD coefficients by exploiting feature-based model reduction. The validation is performed through over-the-air measurements of a 1x4 array operating at 28 GHz with 100-MHz modulated BW.
On a supply-modulated PA (SM-PA), a gradient-based multi-objective optimization (MOO) algorithm was applied to optimize the trade-off between linearity and efficiency of the PA. To avoid dealing with an unbearably high number of experimental acquisitions, MOO is made feasible by fast simulation of an empirical surrogate model of the PA, which is progressively refined from a reduced set of iterative acquisitions. The method outperforms classical SM approaches. This is demonstrated by the experimental results on a SM-PA operating at 3.5 GHz in the presence of OFDM-like high-PAPR modulated signals with 10-MHz and 20-MHz BWs.
Finally, a derivative-free algorithm, the Bayesian optimization, was tested on a multi-input load-modulated amplifier, specifically on a dual-input Doherty PA (DIDPA) targeting 100-MHz modulated BW at 24 GHz. The optimization focuses on improving power added efficiency (PAE) while maintaining linearity with DPD linearization. A joint optimization considers the mutual effect of DPD linearization and PAE-maximization. Validation is done with a multiport on-wafer measurement system using a vector network analyzer for wideband characterization of a millimeter-wave DIDPA
Biochemical bases of the activity of phytoextracts and use of microalgae in veterinary medicine
Get PDFThis research is a multidisciplinary exploration of phytoextracts, focusing on the medicinal properties of Boswellia serrata extracts and the nutritional efficacy of Arthrospira platensis. The study also evaluates Spirugrass®, a by-product derived from the extraction of phycocyanin from A. platensis, for its potential use in animal nutrition.
Through the use of analytical chemistry, statistical analysis and advanced techniques, the research provides a holistic view of the multiple applications of these natural phytoextracts.
The study has evaluated the effects of supplementing Leghorn laying hens with B. serrata and S. alba on productivity, welfare and biomarkers. The supplementation did not affect productivity or performance and the welfare status of the hens was maintained. Serum biochemistry analysis showed no significant differences between the control and supplemented groups during the early stages of laying, indicating the safety of supplementation within the posology used. In addition, there were no significant differences in egg white protein and lower cholesterol levels were measured in the treatment group.
The focus on A. platensis included biochemical characterisation and exploration of potential applications in veterinary medicine. A. platensis, which is rich in essential nutrients, particularly proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, was investigated for iron bioaccumulation and speciation. The research also investigated the bioaccessible iron fraction in A. platensis using an in vitro canine digestion model, providing insights into potential applications in animal nutrition.
The characterisation of Spirugrass® included an assessment of its protein profile and iron content, and the effect of high pressure pasteurisation. Spirugrass® showed potential as a cost-effective ingredient in animal feed, suggesting wider implications for environmental sustainability in livestock production.
In summary, this multi-faceted research expands our understanding of phytoextract applications in veterinary medicine. The use of diverse methodologies and interdisciplinary studies enriches our knowledge of the potential impact of natural products in different areas
Exit Penelope: towards a lyric of her own in a post-68 world
Get PDFThis dissertation, Exit Penelope: Towards a Lyric of Her Own in a Post-68 World, examines the literary rewritings of the Homeric character of Penelope produced in the long aftermath of the global revolutions of 1968. Situated at the intersections of genre theory, feminist criticism, and classical reception studies, this work engages the scholarly debate about how to responsibly reimagine classical women characters originating in Greek myth. While previous studies have focused on revisions of Penelope in various literary genres, this thesis scrutinizes a specific trend emerging from the 1970s to the present day that attributes to the heroine a book/length lyric of her own. Using a comparativist and multifocal socio-formalist approach, I take into consideration a corpus of long poetic texts that grant Penelope a protagonist role and deploy her themes as way to dramatize different facets of the experience of waiting, desiring, and grieving in the contemporary world. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that greater attention to the long poem sequence offers a balance between narrative development and lyrical meditation in ways that help us trouble a binary form of representing the heroine as a stand-in either for the Good Waiting Woman archetype or as an underrecognized feminist trailblazer, allowing a more nuanced exploration of the character’s multivalent contradictions and its potential for dramatizing emerging configurations of subjectivity