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``The undercover agent: investigation’s instrument and evidence in the fight against organized crime´´
No full textEn esta tesis doctoral analizamos uno de los instrumentos o herramientas más eficientes para combatir la delincuencia organizada: el agente encubierto. Se describe y delimita esta figura desde sus dos principales perfiles en el proceso penal: como instrumento de investigación o diligencia de investigación penal en la instrucción y como medio probatorio en el juicio oral o plenario.
En el estudio del primero de sus perfiles exponemos cuáles son sus características, explicamos que debe ser autorizado, quién puede protagonizar dicha actividad, que se les otorga una identidad falsa y que tienen un plan de la operación encubierta, también que deben transmitir la información que vayan recabando al juzgado de instrucción. Delimitamos su ámbito de actuación que es la delincuencia organizada y dentro de la misma concretamos que solamente pueden investigar los delitos recogidos en el art. 282 BIS de la LECrim. Posteriormente, nos centramos en las medidas y recursos para proteger al agente encubierto durante el proceso y fijamos los límites de su actuación como diligencia de investigación.
En el estudio del segundo de sus perfiles explicamos que las actas aportadas por los agentes encubiertos así como sus testimonios constituyen medios probatorios y tratamos de definir ante qué tipo de medio probatorio nos encontramos. Asimismo, analizamos la valoración de esta prueba y el peso probatorio que la doctrina y la jurisprudencia le han dado. También fijamos los límites de la prueba testifical del agente encubierto. Posteriormente, sistematizamos la responsabilidad tanto penal, disciplinaria como civil en que podrían incurrir.
Finalmente, analizamos el agente encubierto virtual. Describimos y criticamos la regulación actual de la actuación internacional de los agentes encubiertos y por último nos centramos en examinar la regulación que le ha dado el ordenamiento jurídico italiano. Concluimos con unas propuestas de lege ferenda acompañadas de las ideas más importantes que extraemos.In this thesis we analyse one of the most efficient instruments or tools for combating organised crime: the undercover agent. This figure is described and delimited from its two main profiles in the criminal process: as an instrument of investigation or criminal investigation diligence in the investigation and as a means of evidence in the oral or plenary proceedings.
In the study of the first of their profiles, we explain what their characteristics are, that they must be authorised, who can carry out this activity, that they are given a false identity and that they have a plan for the undercover operation, and that they must transmit the information they gather to investigative court. We delimit their scope of action, which is organised crime, and within this we specify that they can only investigate the crimes listed in art. 282 BIS of the LECrim. Subsequently, we focus on the measures and resources to protect the undercover agent during the process and establish the limits of their action as an investigation's instrument.
In the study of the second of its profiles, we explain that the minutes provided by undercover agents as well as their testimonies constitute evidence and we try to define what type of evidence we are dealing with. We also analyse the evaluation of this evidence and the evidential weight given to it by doctrine and jurisprudence. We also establish the limits of the undercover agent's testimonial evidence. Subsequently, we systematise the criminal, disciplinary and civil responsibility that could be incurred.
Finally, we analyse the virtual undercover agent. We describe and criticise the current regulation of the international action of undercover agents and, we focus on examining the regulation given to them by the Italian legal system. Concluding with some lege ferenda proposals accompanied by the most important ideas
Advanced X-ray techniques for the structural characterisation of Prussian Blue Analogue cathode materials
No full textThe thesis is dedicated to the implementation of advanced x-ray-based techniques for the investigation of the battery systems, more predominantly, the cathode materials. The implemented characterisation methods include synchrotron based x-ray absorption spectroscopy, powder x-ray diffraction, 2-dimensional x-ray fluorescence, full field transmission soft x-ray microscopy, and laboratory x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The research highlights the different areas of expertise for each described method, in terms of material characterisation, exploring their complementarities and intersections. The results are focused over manganese hexacyanoferrate and partially Ni substituted manganese hexacyanoferrate, through both organic and aqueous battery systems. In aqueous system, the modification of cathode composition has been observed with various techniques, indicating to the processes occurring in bulk, surface, locally or in long-range, including with the speciation by 2-dimensional scanning, and the time-resolution, by the implementation of the operando measurements. In organic media, the inhomogenisation of the cathode material during the aging process was investigated by the development of the special image treatment procedure for the maps, obtained from the transmission soft x-ray microscopy. It worth mentioning, that apart from the combination of the outcomes from the various x-ray measurements, the exploration of the new capabilities was also conducted, namely, probing the oxidation state of the element with the synchrotron-based 2-dimensional x-ray fluorescence technique, which, generally, with conventional set up, is not possible to achieve.
The results and methodology from this thesis can, of course, be generalised on the characterisation of the other battery systems, and not only, as the x-ray techniques are one of the most informative and sophisticated methods for advanced structural investigation of the materials
Cluster analysis on low dimensional embeddings: unveiling similarity patterns in multi-dimensional data for better stratification
No full textThe thesis explores the utility of clustering analysis and dimensionality reduction in various applied physics contexts. Clustering identifies groups of data points with high similarity and is assessed through different algorithms, each with unique capabilities and limitations. Dimensionality reduction serves as both a visualization aid and preprocessing step to enhance cluster quality and reduce computational resources required for subsequent algorithms.
Chapter 1 defines clustering and dimensionality reduction, compares algorithms, and selects one from each category to form a robust clustering pipeline adaptable to real-world scenarios. Three applications demonstrate the pipeline's versatility and robustness, showcasing tailored preprocessing and analysis for each context.
Chapter 2 addresses automatic clustering for single cells in lymphoid tissue, tackling challenges like cross-bleed effects and detailed cell type separation. A novel preprocessing technique called Lognormal Shrinkage improves cell type separation, facilitating expert cluster validation.
Chapter 3 presents a pipeline for identifying interesting genes from RNA-seq experiments, leveraging Weighted Gene Co-expression Network Analysis and novel approaches like identifying drug-targeted gene-enriched clusters. Grouping genes by co-expression patterns mitigates RNA-seq variability, enhancing robust gene identification.
Chapter 4 applies the pipeline to patients with myelodysplastic syndrome using mutational data, demonstrating its efficacy in identifying distinct patient groups with varying survival outcomes, even in boolean and sparse data scenarios.
Conclusions summarize algorithm properties and analyze the pipeline's advantages and potential drawbacks across diverse use cases. Further discussion includes innovative steps necessary for specific datasets
Makeshift camps and migrant (counter)infrastructures: geographies of interrupted transit in Bihać, Bosnia-Herzegovina
No full textIn cities and along border zones where clandestine journeys are facilitated and interrupted, migrants seek out, generate and occupy temporary dwellings or ‘makeshift camps’ in which to take shelter and rest before moving onwards. While makeshift camps are often ephemeral and dismal spaces, definitively marked by all kinds of violence, they have nonetheless emerged as crucial, increasingly permanent features of contemporary migrant geographies. This research undertakes ethnographic fieldwork across the constellation of makeshift camps in the transit hub of Bihać, a city in northwest Bosnia-Herzegovina where thousands of migrants pass (and get stranded) each year as part of the game – the colloquial term for clandestine routes and crossings towards destinations in Europe. Building on critical geographic scholarship on camps, migration, infrastructure and urban informalities, this project seeks to provide alternative readings of migrants’ informal journeys through the spaces they improvise en route. This research explores the diverse material, spatial and temporal formations of these dwellings in transit, foregrounding the subversiveness of migrants who incessantly invent and appropriate infrastructures of survival and logistics for their journeys, despite and within conditions of acute violence. Given their transient residents and the constant nature of police raids and destruction of these sites, key to this research is developing a mobile and adaptive methodology capable of investigating the geographies of makeshift camps, even (or precisely) once they have been abandoned or dismantled. By ‘counter-mapping’ migrants’ vanishing spaces in transit, this research not only reveals forms of obscured violence on the bodies and temporary homes of migrants, but also contributes to excavating the messy, lively, insurgent spatial histories of those who build and inhabit these infrastructures at the borders
Sexual autonomy and consent. Categorising sexual offences in a law reform perspective
No full textNel tratteggiare un affresco afferente agli orientamenti giurisprudenziali contemporanei in materia di art. 609 bis c.p. («violenza sessuale») si evince che la norma – già problematica, in punto di tassatività-determinatezza, sin dalla sua origine – sembra essere oggetto di una “riscrittura” giurisprudenziale in chiave consensualistica; il che crea inevitabili (ulteriori) tensioni con il principio di legalità. Al contempo, il superamento del modello coercitivo, a favore di incriminazioni incentrate sull’elemento del consenso, rappresenta non solo l’impostazione sostenuta a livello sovranazionale, ma anche la prospettiva sulla quale si stanno orientando le più recenti riforme europee in materia, che si opti per modelli stricto sensu consensualistici oppure a stampo dissensuale. De lege ferenda, inoltre, una ridefinizione della tipicità del delitto de quo in tal senso si declina come una scelta necessaria per cristallizzare una tutela della libertà di autodeterminazione sessuale coerente con la sua lettura costituzionale e contemporanea. Uno degli scopi dell’elaborato, quindi, è quello di individuare un modello definitorio che possa essere impiegato de iure condendo. Inoltre, attesa altresì l’esigenza di definire il confine tra aggressione sessuale e molestia sessuale, rilevata la «doppia narrazione» dei cosiddetti “atti repentini”, il discorso sarà orientato anche nella prospettiva di proporre una riforma che non vada nel senso di mantenere una “mono-fattispecie”, ma che contempli la possibilità di prevedere più disposizioni. Il fine perseguito, in particolare, è quello di tracciare un confine tra l’ipotesi di sexual assault (aggressione sessuale) e quella di sexual harassment (molestia sessuale), in modo di addivenire ad una maggior coerenza tra nomen iuris e grado di offensività della condotta incriminata.Despite the reading of the offence, the Italian Supreme Court case law around the crime of sexual violence (art. 609 bis c.p.) has gone beyond the “coercive boundaries” of the model adopted in 1996. However, the “jurisprudential rewriting” of the crime implies tensions with principle of legality, which are added to the ones connected the “umbrella” structure of the Italian offence.
Overcoming the coercion-based model and reforming sexual offences according to a consent-based standard is not only the approach supported at the European level, but also the perspective followed in the most recent European reforms on this matter, where legislators chosen to reform or according to a “no means no” model or to a stricto sensu “consent-based approach”. Reforming the Italian law seems to be the way to crystallise the protection sexual autonomy, considering both its contemporary view, and its reading as a fundamental right, under Article 2, of the Italian Constitution. For these reasons, after a comparative analysis, it will be identified which “consent-based model” could be used.
Following, given the problematic aspects connected to the presence of an “umbrella crime” of sexual violence, it will be analysed the needing how to define a boundary between sexual assault and sexual harassment. In fact, it is well known the Italian case law around the so-called “sudden [sexual] acts”, that often is referred to acts that even if are perceived as sexual harassments fall under art. 609 bis.
In conclusion, in a law reform perspective, it will be considered the possibility to re-writing the Italian crime of sexual violence both according to a consent-based model and dividing it in two different offences. According to harm principle, it will be argued for the needing to provide one offence for sexual assault, and a second one for sexual harassment
Optimization of innovative agronomic practices for camelina (Camelina sativa L. Crantz) in the Mediterranean basin
No full textWithin the Mediterranean basin, most agricultural systems heavily depend on rainfed crops, particularly cereals, which are grown as the sole crop due to limited options. These systems frequently rely on significant agricultural inputs and are susceptible to fluctuations in production caused by climate change and unforeseen weather events. Introducing new crops can improve crop diversification and fulfil the requirements of various stakeholders in the value chain. Camelina (camelina sativa L. Crantz) can be integrated into agricultural systems in the Mediterranean basin as a novel cash-cover crop. In the first experiment different tillage techniques, sowing dates and nitrogen fertilization rates were tested. The seed yield reached a maximum of 1.16 Mg ha-1. Minimum tillage typically results in increased yields and improved qualitative characteristics. Increasing the application of nitrogen fertilizers generally resulted in a notable rise in seed production. However, it is necessary to confirm whether the expense of the fertilizers is balanced by the extra revenue generated from the increased yield. In the second experiment different PGPR were tested to understand whether their use could increase the performances of camelinaThe results of this trial indicated that under stressful conditions camelina can significantly benefit from the application of PGPR. Finally, camelina was tested in a double cropping system with soybean. After the three-year study, we can conclude that camelina is a promising crop in a double-cropping system with soybean thanks to its short growing cycle that enables to sow soybean in early June. But increasing the yield of both camelina and soybean, seems essential for achieving any chance of development of this double cropping system at a commercial scale
Immunophenotyping: a promising non-invasive approach to predict response to atezolizumab-bevacizumab in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
No full textThe combination of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab represents improvement in the treatment of advanced HCC. Yet, the challenge of primary non-responses underscores the need for robust predictive biomarkers. Ongoing research efforts are crucial to address this gap to improve the effectiveness of immunotherapy in advanced HCC. Aiming to identify possible biomarkers predicting response to immunotherapy, we studied the immunophenotype of granulocytes and lymphocytes from peripheral blood using a simple cytofluorimetric test. A low baseline PD1+ granulocyte percentage is predictive of a benefit from atezolizumab–bevacizumab. We also observed that baseline CD8+ and CD8+PD-L1+ peripheral lymphocytes, as well as early changes in CD8+PD1+ lymphocytes in the first 3 weeks of treatment, could serve as predictors of response to atezolizumab–bevacizumab.
Our observations highlight the potential utility of studying the immunophenotype of white blood cell populations as noninvasive markers in the setting of PD-L1 blockade in advanced HCC patients. Specifically, these markers could be used to predict treatment response before initiating therapy as well as early on treatment response. This approach aligns with the broader trend in medicine towards personalized approaches to better meet the needs of individual patients
The screening of foreign investments into the European Union: a legal appraisal
No full textThe present thesis investigates the screening of foreign direct investments (FDI) into the European Union (EU) through the prism of the changing approaches to globalisation and to the economic role of the State. During the final decades of the twentieth century, European economies underwent a process of privatisation of state-owned-enterprises. The instruments adopted by numerous EU Member States to protect national interests in newly privatised economic sectors proved inconsistent with the free movement of capital and the freedom of establishment enshrined in EU law, as interpreted by the CJEU. The early years of this century were characterised by a rapid expansion of globalisation and an increase in foreign investment to and from the EU. In recent years, the resurgence of State prerogatives of economic sovereignty has led to a global reassessment of the potential security threats posed by FDI, such as the risk of weaponised dependencies in strategic sectors and critical industries. The ongoing change of approach bears consequences on the implementation of domestic investment policies and on the development of international investment law. At EU level, the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2019/452 can be considered a major legislative development in response to the EU’s supposed naïveté on the risks of FDI. The doctoral work reconstructs a comprehensive normative framework for FDI screening within the EU and international multi-level investment governance. It provides a theoretical contribution to evaluate the extent to which EU Member States can protect their security prerogatives by balancing the openness of the internal market to FDI with national and European economic security. It also proposes a normative interpretation of EU law which could lead to the progressive attribution of responsibilities to the European Commission in the area of FDI screening when European collective security interests are affected
The shadow archive in the social terrain. The photographic portrait between presence and subject in late twentieth-century archival art
No full textLa ricerca esplora in maniera organica la presenza del ritratto fotografico all'interno dell'archival art del tardo del 20° secolo. Basandosi sulla distinzione tra collezioni fotografiche archivistiche e non archivistiche, lo studio si propone di sistematizzare la vasta gamma di queste pratiche e ricostruirne sviluppo storico attraverso l'identificazione di fattori di continuità e di rottura - concettuali, formali e operativi – prendendo in esame il periodo che va dall'emergere dell'estetica amministrativa alla fine degli anni Sessanta alla svolta archivistica degli anni Novanta. A tal fine, lo studio sostiene la presenza di una tensione produttiva tra le due funzioni culturali principali svolte dall'archivio fotografico a contatto con il corpo individuale e sociale: quella di dispositivo di presenzialità e quella di dispositivo di soggettivazione. L'analisi è condotta diacronicamente, tenendo conto dell'evoluzione specifica dell'archivio fotografico dalla sua configurazione tradizionale a quella post-digitale.This research organically explores the presence of photographic portraiture within late 20th century archival art. Drawing on the distinction between archival and non-archival photographic collections, the study aims to systematize the wide range of these practices and reconstruct their historical development through the identification of continuity and rupture factors—conceptual, formal, and operational—spanning from the emergence of the aesthetics of administration in the late 1960s to the archival turn of the 1990s. To this end, the study argues for the enduring presence of a productive tension between the two main cultural functions performed by the photographic archive in contact with the individual and social body: that of a presencing device and that of a control device. The analysis is conducted diachronically, considering the specific evolution of the photographic archive from its traditional to its post-digital configuration
The art of temporary living. 28 collected rooms
No full textThis thesis explores the aesthetics of today’s ordinary, domestic interiors. With an interdisciplinary approach, it maneuvers across literary and cultural studies, ethnography, and architecture, to explore the art of temporary living through objects and practices. The thesis is divided into three parts with interconnected objectives. Part I establishes a theoretical and methodological framework for exploring domestic interiors based on Georges Perec’s works. It examines two main themes: objects and practices. The analysis of objects traces Perec’s evolution from a Barthesian semiotic approach in Les Choses (1965) to recognizing the entanglements of humans and things in La Vie mode d’emploi (1978), pre-echoing theories of the Material Turn. This shift stems from Perec’s interest in lived spaces and everyday life during the 1970s. The analysis of practices, focusing on the “art of living,” contextualizes Perec within the French everyday life studies tradition, drawing on Henri Lefebvre and Michel de Certeau, enriched by Richard Shusterman’s somaesthetics. The discussion highlights how inhabiting interiors relates to the art of living and concludes with the domestic space as its primary locus. Part II, the “Rooms Catalogue,” is a collection of 28 rooms in Bologna and Copenhagen. It features 28 sets of textual vignettes and original drawings based on an artistic-ethnographic project carried out to capture snapshots of domestic interiors and temporary living arrangements of young people, particularly students. Part III returns to Part I’s structure of objects and practices and applies it to insights from Part II to analyze domestic interiors. Combining cultural criticism, interview voices, and diverse sources, it offers a mosaic of analyses on certain objects and practices of temporary living. The thesis offers a subversive critique of design cultures, aesthetic regimes, and contemporary domestic culture