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Securitisations in the new European capital market. From the financial crisis to Regulation (EU) 2017/2402.
Get PDFIl saggio esamina il nuovo Reg. (UE) n. 2402/2017, in vigore dal 1° Gennaio 2019, che istituisce un quadro generale per le operazioni di cartolarizzazione e, al tempo stesso, un quadro specifico per le cartolarizzazioni semplici, trasparenti e standardizzate (s.t.s.). Unitamente al Reg. (UE) n. 2401/2017 (in materia di requisiti prudenziali per enti creditizi e imprese di investimento), il Regolamento raccoglie larga parte della disciplina unionale in materia di cartolarizzazioni (Securitisation framework). L’analisi, che prende avvio da una preliminare descrizione dell’architettura essenziale di un’operazione di cartolarizzazione (Cap. 1), muove, in primo luogo, da un’indagine di tipo ricognitivo e funzionale all’individuazione dei fallimenti di mercato e della regolamentazione osservati nel settore dei prodotti cartolarizzati durante la crisi finanziaria 2007-2008 (Cap. 2). A seguire viene ricostruito il dibattito sulle linee di politica legislativa di settore sviluppatosi, a livello internazionale, attraverso i lavori, fra gli altri, dell’International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) e, a livello europeo, nell’ambito dei lavori sull’Unione dei mercati dei capitali (Cap. 3). Infine, il lavoro si concentra sull’analisi del nuovo Regolamento e, in particolare, sugli obblighi di dovuta diligenza, di mantenimento del rischio e di trasparenza (Cap. 4), nonché sul nuovo quadro normativo delle cartolarizzazioni s.t.s. (Cap. 5), con l’obiettivo di fornire una prima valutazione in ordine ai risultati raggiunti dal Legislatore europeo nell’ambito della reform agenda del mercato dei prodotti cartolarizzati.The essay examines the new Regulation (EU) 2017/2402, in force since 1 January 2019, which establishes a general framework for securitisation transactions and, at the same time, a specific framework for simple, transparent and standardised securitisations (s.t.s.). Along with Regulation (EU) 2017/2401 (on prudential requirements for credit institutions and investment firms), the Regulation collects a large part of the Union’s securitisation framework (Securitisation framework). The analysis, which starts from a preliminary description of the essential architecture of a securitisation operation (chap. 1), moves, first, an investigation of a reconnaissance and functional type to identify the market failures and regulation observed in the sector of securitised products during the financial crisis 2007-2008 (chap. 2). Following this, the debate on the legislative policy lines of the sector developed at international level through the work of, among others, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and, at European level, in the context of the work on the Capital Markets Union (chap. 3). Finally, the essay focuses on the analysis of the new Regulation and, in particular, on the obligations of due diligence, maintenance of risk (risk retention rule) and transparency (chap. 4), as well as on the new regulatory framework of securitisations s.t.s. (chap. 5) with the aim of providing an initial assessment of the results achieved by the European legislator in the context of the reform of the market agenda for securitised products
On detecting the cosmic web and its magnetic field
Get PDFMagnetic fields are known to permeate space over a remarkable range of scales, from meter-large bodies up to ~Mpc wide clusters of galaxies. It is still debated whether their origin is either "primordial", involving their early formation in the homogeneous universe, or "astrophysical", i.e. from feedback into the inter-galactic space by the first dense and highly magnetised structures (e.g. stars, galaxies, AGN). Observing galaxy cluster outskirts and filaments of the cosmic web is keys to test the above scenarios, as the current strength and morphology of their evolved magnetic field should correlate with the initial conditions in the most rarefied environments. In this thesis, we push complementary radio-astronomy techniques (namely direct imaging, Faraday rotation and FRB studies) on dedicated data from new generation instruments, in combination with state-of-the-art cosmological simulations, to constrain the properties of the magnetic fields at ~Mpc scale at low redshift. This work provides relevant advances into observational constraints of magnetic fields in cluster outskirts (e.g. 0.4uG<B_Mpc<10uG in the outskirts of the galaxy cluster A2249) and intra-cluster filaments (B_Mpc<0.25-0.75uG). We explore the feasibility and possible systematics of Faraday rotation studies with new and next generation instrumentation (JVLA, SKA) and provide new perspectives to best exploit their use. We also constrain the population properties of fast radio bursts (FRBs), which can be used as background sources for the study of the large scale structures. Our findings hint to either an evolving luminosity function of FRBs or to the presence of un-diagnosed selection effect in the current avaliable samples. Finally, we plan (and implement) the refurbishment of an old radio telescope, the Northern Cross in Medicina, for dedicated FRB search. We characterise the instrument sensitivity at 408 MHz and estimate detection rates with respect to different complementary set-up, e.g. a follow-up mode of known FRBs and a wide-area survey
Development and validation of indicators to measure the experience of neonatal care reported by parents - patient reported experience measures (PREMs). Assessing indicators in clinical practice for improvement in the quality of care.
Get PDFIntroduzione: i patient reported experience measure (PREMs) sono indicatori di qualità dell’assistenza e misurano il processo di cura riferito dal paziente. Non sono disponibili questionari PREMs disegnati e validati per descrivere l’esperienza assistenziale durante il ricovero in neonatologia.
Obiettivo: costruire un questionario PREMs attraverso un processo di definizione con il metodo Delphi di una lista di domande che investighino l’esperienza dell’assistenza neonatale dal momento del ricovero a quello della dimissione e di validare lo strumento.
Materiali e metodi: è stata condotta una revisione rapida della letteratura per identificare questionari sulla percezione dell’assistenza riportati negli studi di validazione pubblicati in 2008-2018. Gli item sull’esperienza, selezionati da ogni questionario incluso, sono stati sottoposti agli stakeholder in 3 round Delphi per il giudizio di rilevanza. I criteri predefiniti di raggiungimento del consenso sono stati applicati alla fine del round 2 e agli item trattenuti è stata attribuita una priorità di inclusione nel questionario, somministrato successivamente, alla dimissione, a genitori di neonati ricoverati in neonatologia. L’analisi fattoriale esplorativa è stata utilizzata per esaminare la struttura dello strumento.
Risultati: sono stati identificati 380 studi, 4 sono stati inclusi e 69 item sottoposti al giudizio degli stakeholder (54 genitori e 52 professionisti). Alla fine del processo Delphi, il questionario finale di 18 item è stato validato su un campione di 97 genitori. L’analisi fattoriale con scoring dicotomico degli item ha identificato 2 fattori con buon adattamento al modello: esperienza dell’assistenza durante la degenza ed esperienza di presa in carico e dimissione.
Conclusione: il questionario è il primo strumento validato disponibile per misurare l’esperienza dell’assistenza in neonatologia attraverso due indicatori specifici, che consentono di comparare, fra strutture omogenee o all’interno della stessa struttura nel tempo, l’esperienza del processo di cura riferita dai genitori, per identificare aree critiche verso cui orientare interventi di miglioramento della qualità assistenziale.Background: patient reported experience measures (PREMs) are quality indicators of care which measure the patient-reported care process. No PREMs questionnaires have been developed and validated to investigate the experience of care in neonatal units.
Objective: to develop a PREMs questionnaire through a process of selection via the Delphi method of a list of questions that investigate the experience of neonatal care from admission to discharge, and to validate this instrument.
Materials and methods: a rapid review of the literature was conducted to identify questionnaires on the perception of care reported in validation studies published between 2008-2018. The items referring to experience, selected from each included questionnaire, were submitted to the stakeholders in 3 Delphi rounds for the judgment of relevance. Previously defined consensus criteria were used to reach an agreement at the end of round 2 and the retained items were given a priority for inclusion in the questionnaire. This was administered after discharge to parents of newborns admitted to the neonatal unit. An exploratory factor analysis was used to examine the structure of the instrument.
Results: 380 studies were identified, 4 were included and 69 items submitted for the stakeholders’ decision (54 parents and 52 professionals). At the end of the Delphi process, the final 18-item questionnaire was validated using 97 parents. The factor analysis with dichotomous scoring of the items identified 2 factors with that fit the model well: the experience of in-hospital assistance and the experience during admission and discharge.
Conclusion: the questionnaire is the first validated instrument to measure the experience of care in neonatal units through two specific indicators, which allow for a comparison of the experience of care reported by the parents between homogeneous structures or within the same structure over time, and to identify critical areas for improvement in the quality of care
The spoliation of Jewish property and the activity of Egeli in Bologna and Ferrara
Get PDFL’elaborato prende in considerazione la persecuzione patrimoniale avvenuta a Bologna e Ferrara, le due città con le Comunità ebraiche più numerose dell’Emilia-Romagna e che subirono i danni e le perdite più ingenti. Attraverso i fondi della prefettura e della questura, conservati presso i locali Archivi di Stato, è stato possibile ricostruire il meccanismo burocratico e le procedure amministrative con cui la normativa fu applicata nelle singole realtà locali.
La persecuzione patrimoniale contro gli ebrei italiani fu uno degli assi portanti della legislazione razziale emanata dal regime fascista nel 1938, che colpì attività professionali, aziende, e proprietà immobiliari e rurali. Il passare dei mesi e il peggiorare della situazione politica, complice anche il conflitto mondiale, portarono ad un progressivo inasprimento delle requisizioni, che nei territori della Repubblica sociale italiana raggiunsero il culmine.
Il tema delle requisizioni è legato a quello delle restituzioni, che iniziarono immediatamente dopo la Liberazione e proseguirono per lungo tempo tra inciampi burocratici, lacune legislative e vicende giudiziarie che segnarono la ripresa materiale e identitaria degli ebrei e dell’ebraismo italiano nel dopoguerra.This study takes into consideration the persecution that took place in Bologna and Ferrara, the two cities with the largest number of Jewish communities in Emilia-Romagna and which suffered the most damage and losses. Through the funds of the Prefecture and the Police Headquarters, preserved in the local State Archives, it was possible to reconstruct the bureaucratic mechanism and the administrative procedures with which the legislation was applied in each local area.
The persecution of Italian Jews was one of the cornerstones of the racial legislation enacted by the Fascist regime in 1938, which affected professional activities, businesses, and real estate and rural properties. The passing of the months and the worsening of the political situation, also due to the world conflict, led to a progressive tightening of requisitions, which reached their peak in the territories of the Italian Social Republic.
The theme of requisitions is linked to that of restitution, which began immediately after the Liberation and continued for a long time amidst bureaucratic stumbling blocks, legislative gaps and judicial events that marked the material and identity recovery of Jews and Italian Judaism after the war
New approaches to plant-based drug discovery
Get PDFNatural products have been used to treat or prevent diseases since time immemorial. Although their value is widely recognised, plant-based drug discovery presents several challenges. New methods are needed for the rapid analysis of plant extracts, with minimal consumption of starting plant material, resources and time. Moreover, techniques enabling the extrapolation of many types of information with a single analysis are required.
Considering these challenges, new approaches for the study of plant extracts and the identification of the active metabolites are presented in this thesis.
Among the recent techniques, metabolomics coupled with chemometrics is particularly outstanding. The metabolomic-chemometric approach was applied in a screening of thirty-six plant extracts for antibacterial activity. The PCA model enabled the identification of the most promising extracts and provided an insight allowing several considerations and inputs for future studies. The same technique was used to reap phytochemical variations of Arbutus unedo leaves samples, collected under different conditions. The most phytochemically diverse samples exhibited different antibacterial activities, demonstrating that the composition and biological activity of plant extracts are highly dependent on the conditions under which samples are collected. One of the compounds responsible for antibacterial activity, kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside, was identified.
Another important issues of plant-based drug discovery is the rapid identification of known molecules, that is referred to dereplication approach. Amaryllidaceae alkaloids are secondary metabolites with a wide range of biological activities and structural variety. The most occurring alkaloids are widely known, hence, they were selected for the development of a dereplication protocol. The method allowed the characterization of the bulb extract of Urceolina peruviana working directly on the extract fractions without resorting to purification processes, saving time and resources. Only the fraction containing an alkaloid whose NMR profile was absent in the databases was purified. This alkaloid was named 6-dehydroxy-6-acetamido-nerinine
Managing Device and Platform Heterogeneity through the Web of Things
Get PDFThe chaotic growth of the IoT determined a fragmented landscape with a huge number of devices, technologies, and platforms available on the market, and consequential issues of interoperability on many system deployments. The Web of Things (WoT) architecture recently proposed by the W3C consortium constitutes a novel solution to enable interoperability across IoT Platforms and application domains. At the same time, in order to see an effective improvement, a wide adoption of the W3C WoT solutions from the academic and industrial communities is required; this translates into the need of accurate and complete support tools to ease the deployment of W3C WoT applications, as well as reference guidelines about how to enable the WoT on top of existing IoT scenarios and how to deploy WoT scenarios from scratch. In this thesis, we bring three main contributions for filling such gap: (1) we introduce the WoT Store, a novel platform for managing and easing the deployment of Things and applications on the W3C WoT, and additional strategies for bringing old legacy IoT systems into the WoT. The WoT Store allows the dynamic discovery of the resources available in the environment, i.e. the Things, and to interact with each of them through a dashboard by visualizing their properties, executing commands, or observing the notifications produced. (2) We map three different IoT scenarios to WoT scenarios: a generic heterogeneous environmental monitoring scenario, a structural health monitoring scenario and an Industry4.0 scenario. (3) We make proposals to improve both the W3C standard and the node-wot software stack design: in the first case, new vocabularies are needed in order to handle particular protocols employed in industrial scenarios, while in the second case we present some contributions required for the dynamic instantiation and the migration of Web Things and WoT services in a cloud-to-edge continuum environment
Promoting weight loss and distress reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial of a combined well-being and lifestyle intervention
Get PDFIntroduction: Current lifestyle interventions for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and weight loss show limited effects, while the promotion of psychological well-being has shown preliminary benefits in reducing psychological distress and improving self-care behaviors in type 2 diabetes and weight loss.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and superiority of a 4-month combined well-being and lifestyle intervention for weight loss and distress reduction among adult patients with type 2 diabetes and overweight/obesity compared to lifestyle intervention alone. Primary efficacy outcomes included changes in weight, psychological distress, and well-being, while secondary efficacy outcomes included changes in lifestyle and physiological parameters.
Methods: In this multicenter RCT, 58 consecutive patients were recruited from two outpatient endocrinology clinics and randomized to either a combined WBT-lifestyle group, receiving the combined well-being and lifestyle intervention (n=30), or a lifestyle alone group, receiving a lifestyle intervention only (n=28). Data were collected at baseline (T0), at immediate post-intervention (T1), and at a 6-month follow-up (T2).
Results: The study intervention was shown to be feasible and acceptable. Compared to the lifestyle alone group, the combined WBT-lifestyle group showed significantly greater improvements in levels of depression, hostility, and personal growth at T1 and in levels of physical activity at T2. There were no significant differences between treatment groups in measures of weight and other physiological parameters at any assessment points. However, significant improvements were observed from T0 to T2 in weight in both treatment groups, and in blood pressure in the combined WBT-lifestyle group.
Conclusions: The findings suggest that a well-being intervention can be a valuable addition to lifestyle interventions in improving short-term psychological outcomes and promoting healthy changes in physical activity at a 6-month follow-up
Development of haptic communication processes between human and machine
Get PDFLa ricerca si focalizza sul rapporto tra tecnologie abilitanti e corpo umano. La miniaturizzazione delle tecnologie, unita alla loro maggiore diffusione negli ambienti, porta ad interrogarsi sull’efficacia dell’integrazione di esse con corpo e attività ad esso connesse.
Il contesto problematico della ricerca riguarda i dispositivi indossabili e il progetto di soluzioni destinate a risolvere inediti bisogni o potenziare i sensi umani. La letteratura scientifica e i casi studio circoscrivono il piede come efficace piattaforma per la sperimentazione di interfacce aptiche di comunicazione uomo/macchina, atte a connettere il corpo con informazioni referenziate all’ambiente. Il piede, elemento motorio duplice e simmetrico, ha un’elevata qualità percettiva ed è morfologicamente adeguato all’applicazione di tecnologie emergenti. La posizione di soglia, tra spazio e corpo, consente la raccolta di stimoli da entrambe le aree.
La bibliografia evidenzia quanto la pressione, rispetto alla vibrazione, sia preferibile nella comunicazione aptica in quanto componente naturale dei linguaggi relazionali del corpo.
Dall’analisi multidisciplinare emerge infine l’opportunità di sviluppo del ritmo come componente strutturale dei messaggi. I legami relazionali tra ritmo, corpo e comportamenti umani sono evidenti in molteplici meccanismi: trascinamento ritmico, mimesi ritmica, sincronia.
La messa in relazione di piede, pressione e ritmo diventa affordance dello spazio, capace di suggerire, enfatizzare o attivare determinati comportamenti. L’unione di questi elementi è qui definita ritmica podotattile ed esplicitata nella tesi della descrizione delle sue caratteristiche, dalla circoscrizione di campi e azioni applicative e dalla raccolta dati sui test effettuati con i prototipi costruiti.
Le analisi quantitative e qualitative dei dati di lettura del movimento e delle emozioni dimostrano quanto l’utilizzo di un linguaggio ritmico aptico nel piede esprima elevate potenzialità di integrazione con il corpo nel rispetto del comfort e dell’equilibrio attentivo nei flussi di azione preesistenti.
I risultati aprono riflessioni su nuove applicazioni progettuali nel campo museale, lavorativo e urbano.This research focuses on the relationship between enabling technologies and the human body.
Technology miniaturization and its increased use in environments raises questions about its integration capability with the body and its behaviors. The problematic research context concerns wearable devices and the design of solutions to solve novel needs or enhance human senses.
Scientific literature and case studies describe human foot as an effective platform for experimenting with haptic interfaces for human/machine communication, capable of connecting the body with site-specific data. The foot, a dual and symmetrical motor element, has a high perceptive quality and is morphologically suitable for emerging technologies application. Its border position, between space and body, allows stimuli collection from both areas.
Bibliography indicates how pressure, compared to vibration, is preferable in haptic communication since it is a natural component of the body's relational languages.
Finally, the multidisciplinary analysis reveals the opportunity of developing rhythm as a structural component of messages. The relational links between rhythm, body and human behavior are evident in some mechanisms: rhythmic entrainment, rhythmic mimesis, synchrony.
The relationship between foot, pressure and rhythm becomes an affordance of the space, capable of suggesting, emphasising or activating behaviors. The podotactile rhythm is presented here as a union of these elements. In this thesis it is described through the characteristics, the fields and actions application and the data collection from the tests carried out using the build prototypes.
The quantitative and qualitative analyses of the movement and emotion reading data show how the use of a haptic rhythmic language in the foot expresses high potential for integration with the body while respecting comfort and attentive balance in pre-existing action flows.
The results open reflections on several new design application in museum, working and urban contexts
Water and sediments geochemistry and elemental fluxes on a Large Dam: case study of Ridracoli reservoir.
Get PDFSince the study of Large Dam Reservoirs is of worldwide interest, in this PhD project we investigated the Ridracoli reservoir, one of the main water supply in Emilia-Romagna (north-eastern Italy). This work aims to characterize waters and sediments to better understand their composition, interactions and any process that occurs, for a better geochemical and environmental knowledge of the area.
Physical and chemical analyses on the water column have shown an alternation of stratification and mixing of water in the reservoir’s water body due to seasonal variations in temperature and density. In particular, it was observed the establishment, in late summer, of anoxic conditions at the bottom, which in turn affects the concentration and mobility of some elements of concern (e.g. Fe and Mn) for the water quality. Sediments within the reservoir and from surrounding areas were analysed for organic matter, total inorganic composition and grain size, assessing the inter-element relationship, grain size, geological background and damming influences on their chemistry, through descriptive statistics, Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis. The reservoir’s area was also investigated by pseudo total composition (Aqua Regia digestion), degree of elements extractability, and enrichment factors, then analysed and compared to limits by law and literature. Sediment cores, interstitial waters, and benthic chamber data from the bottom were of great interest due to organic matter degradation, early diagenesis, mineral formation at water-sediment interface and observed flows. Finally, leaching test and extraction procedures, of environmental interest, showed peculiar partitioning, both regarding spatial and in-depth distribution, and the absence of pollution.
Collectively, our results are useful for the comprehension of processes that occur in water and sediments of Ridracoli reservoir, providing important knowledges on the site that could be relevant for the management of the resource and the planning of future interventions
Exploring new aspects of radical molecular machinery: studies and perspectives in the field of paramagnetic architectures.
Get PDFThe challenge of achieving molecular devices able to reproduce the impressive features of biological nano-machines has been attracting the interest of many scientists during the last decades. At present, several examples of artificial molecular machines based on mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) have been reported, which are able to perform a wide set of highly complex motions. On the other hand, the increasing complexity of molecular machines designed by scientists requires also new analytical approaches capable to characterize the nanoscale processes affecting these kind of systems. To this aim, the covalent incorporation of stable paramagnetic moieties inside the structure of artificial MIMs enables to use Electronic Paramagnetic Resonance spectroscopy (EPR) for monitoring the dynamics of the target structures. In this scenario, this research focused on the design, synthesis and EPR study of novel supramolecular architectures containing persistent nitroxide groups and employable in the field of radical molecular machines. The Chapter 3 of this manuscript describes the design, synthesis and EPR reduction kinetic studies of two novel crown-ether macrocycles containing a persistent nitroxide group into their structure. In Chapter 4 the use of 2-phenyl-2-cyanopropanoic acid as single fuel for promoting the full back and forth cycle of motions of an acid-base switchable nitroxide-labelled rotaxane was investigated. In the investigation reported in Chapter 5, EPR studies combined with GC-MS analysis were performed for monitoring the aerobic catalytic cycle of oxidation of 4-methoxy benzyl alcohol in the presence of a nitroxide-based macrocycle and cerium ammonium nitrate as co-catalyst. Chapter 6 describes the synthesis of a novel synthetic crown-ether macrocycle containing a stable nitroxide moiety into the structure and the EPR investigation of its complexation properties toward organic and inorganic guests