1,721,075 research outputs found
A note on interest rate term structure estimation using tension splines
No full textTension splines are proposed as a flexible tool for interest rate term structure estimation to circumvent some difficulties arising with the ordinary cubic spline estimators. A few computational experiments on test problems support the merits of the proposed approach. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved
Ruspini, E., Bonifacio, G.T. & Corradi, C. (eds.), Women and Religion: Contemporary and future challenges in the Global Era, Bristol, Policy Press, 2018
No full textReview of the book by Ruspini, E., Bonifacio, G.T. & Corradi, C. (eds), Women and Religion: Contemporary and future challenges in the Global Era, University of Bristol, Policy Press, 2018
Eccentric loading of solid brickwork: experimental and theoretical approaches
No full textThe compressive strength of masonry plays a central role in the assessment of masonry structures. In spite of a large number of data and theoretical approaches, the failure of brickwork pillars and arches and its dependence on the strength and geometry of the constituents, on the masonry bond and on the loading conditions seems not yet clear. In this paper, concentric and eccentric loading are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. A mechanical model for eccentrically loaded pillars has been formulated to relate masonry strength to the brick properties. Tests have been performed on brickwork prisms with different load eccentricities. Comparisons between theoretical and experimental results are discusse
What drives electric vehicle adoption? Insights from a systematic review on European transport actors and behaviours
No full textA sustainable transition towards a net zero emission economy is a primary goal of climate change mitigation. Such a transition should involve each socio-technical system, including the transport system. Adopting a multi-level perspective, the present study explores the behaviour of actors within the road passenger transport sector by investigating roadblocks to the shift towards electric mobility. The study focuses specifically on regime actors, i.e. the whole of consumers (car drivers), industry actors (car manufacturers, suppliers), policymakers, and civil society (citizens, workers, trade unions, environmental organisations, NGOs) acting at regime level. Although these actors provide stability to the socio-technical system, they do not always oppose change. Indeed, they can actively support the transition pushing a reform agenda that fits their interests. The reframing of their behaviour becomes therefore essential for the regime change to occur. The analysis involved the systematic literature re-view of studies concerning the road transport regime actors. These included 44 publications related to the Eu-ropean continent in the period 2015-2020. The findings reveal a recent re-orientation of regime actors, with the presence of factors supporting change along with those reinforcing resistance. The firsts include the role of electric vehicles as symbols of social status and innovativeness, their environmentally sound for decarbonising transport, and the possibility for firms to pursue new business opportunities and models. In contrast, the emerged factors of resistance include uncertainty in demand and production scalability, the risk of job losses, the rigid value chain, and the lack of charging stations that makes electric vehicles not suitable in everyday life
Effect of CCK and its antagonists on gastric emptying.
No full textCholecystokinin (CCK) belongs to the group of substances known as brain-gut peptides: it functions both as a neuropeptide and a gut hormone. The peptide and its synthetic derivatives (like for instance CCK-8 and the amphibian counterpart caerulein) significantly delay emptying of gastric contents in both animals and humans. The fact that CCK, in doses mimicking postprandial plasma levels, strongly affects emptying rate suggests the peptide to be a physiologic regulator of gastric emptying. Unfortunately, clear definition of the role of CCK in the physiology of gastric motor activity has long been hampered by the lack of specific and potent non-peptide antagonists of CCK-receptors. The availability of such compounds has stimulated a broad array of investigations into the physiological actions of this hormone and examination of its putative role in certain diseases. This paper summarizes the available data concerning the effect of CCK and its antagonists on gastric emptying. The use of selective CCK-antagonists has allowed to establish that the gastric motor effect of the peptide is direct and mediated through the stimulation of CCK-A receptors. As a consequence, CCK-A antagonism results in acceleration of emptying rate under certain experimental and clinical conditions. This peculiar pharmacologic effect of CCK-A antagonists, which could be useful in the treatment of functional dyspepsia (idiopathic or diabetic), gastroparesis and gastro-esophageal reflux disease (where patients often display a delayed emptying rate of solid food) needs to be further investigated, in order to fully explore their potential as gastrokinetic drugs
Experimental and theoretical analysis of eccentrically loaded brickwork
No full textThe standard assessment procedures for masonry arches assume the compressive strength
of masonry as a deterministic variable while it is well known that masonry mechanical
parameters suffer from large scattering. In this paper, the load carrying capacity of masonry
arches is addressed by means of Kinematic Limit Analysis (Mechanism Method) assuming
the material compressive strength as a random variable. The failure probability of all the
admissible mechanisms is estimated and the global collapse probability is conservatively
provided by the Cornell approximation. The application of the procedure to a single span arch
bridge shows that for arch-type structures it can provide a filter to the compressive strength
randomness by reducing the data scattering. Discussion is provided on the safety factors
defined by masonry codes and their effect on the safety assessment of masonry arche
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