1,342 research outputs found
Temperature analysis of the water supply system of a dairy company by means of a simulation model
No full textThis paper describes the second part of a research project that examined, by means of simulation, the water distribution system of a dairy company located near Parma (Italy) and active for decades in the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and butter. The first part of the research was described by Marchini et al. (2013) and focused on finding opportunities for recycling water in the distribution system of the dairy company considered. In this work, we go ahead by analyzing the thermal properties (such as, primarily, the temperature) of the water used inside the distribution system, as well as of that discharged. Specifically, the aim of the present study is to estimate the water temperature into each tank of the plant. To achieve this aim, we build upon the MS ExcelTM simulation model developed by Marchini et al. (2013) and add the related thermal equations. As a result, we define the temperature trend of water inside all the tanks of the distribution system. Situations where the water temperature is higher than the boundary defined by the company (i.e., approx. 25°C) are also highlighted
Il “nuovo” bilancio d’esercizio. Una prima valutazione dell’impatto, sui conti ordinari, del cambio di regole contabili
No full textThe annual accounts of 2016 represent a significant point of discontinuity in the process of preparing Italian financial statements. Legislative Decree No. 139 of August 18, 2015, which aims to implement Directive 2013/34/EU, is the most important and the fastest update of Italian accounting rules since the adoption, pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 127 of April 9, 1991, of the repealed IV and VII EEC Directives. The changes made to the Italian Civil Code, accompanied by a reelaboration of the Italian GAAP, introduced new general financial reporting principles, changed the structure of financial statements, innovated the measurement bases and diversified the disclosure in the notes. An important change in the financial reporting model, influenced by IFRS, with potentials and significant effects – also thanks to a general retroactive application – both in relation to measuring a company’s performance in terms of income and capital, and in relation to the information level in the notes. This study represents the first contribution to the discussion on the actual impact of Legislative Decree No. 139/2015 and the new Italian GAAP on preparers’ behaviour and the values reported in their financial statements. For this purpose, we investigate a sample of 1,497 full accounts referring to fiscal periods ending on 31 December 2016 and subject to the new accounting rules, elaborated by innovative software technologies that can process them from the native XBRL format. The results show that first-time adoption had significant impacts: 15% of the companies examined restated comparative values. These companies were also characterised by an average reduction in shareholders’ equity of about 4.5%
New findings in the diagnosis and treatment of primary angle-closure glaucoma
No full textGlaucoma is the second cause of blindness worldwide. In the next years, approximately one-fourth of all glaucoma cases will be angle-closure types. Older age, female sex, and Asian ethnicities are described risk factors as well as shorter axial length, shallow anterior chamber depth, lens position, and thickness. New findings suggest iris volume and choroidal thickness to have a key role in the mechanisms of angle closure. Classical clinical conditions are acute, intermittent, and chronic forms. Ultrasound biomicroscopy and anterior segment optical coherence tomography contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms of angle closure, helping the ophthalmologists in the diagnosis and treatment. The therapy includes laser iridotomy, argon laser peripheral iridoplasty, lens extraction, goniosynechialysis, filtering surgery, drainage implant, and cyclodestruction
CEDRO: an in-switch elephant flows rescheduling scheme for data-centers
No full textData-center topologies interconnect an ever larger number of servers using a high number of alternative paths to provide high bandwidth and a high degree of resiliency. The state-of-the-art routing strategy is based on Equal-cost multipath (ECMP) which employs static hashing mechanism over packet header fields to spread the traffic over multiple paths. Routing the traffic without considering the size of the flows and the utilization of the paths might cause congestion due to the collision of multiple large flows on a same downstream path. We present CEDRO, an in-switch mechanism to detect and reschedule colliding large flows. By exploiting the latest advances in SDN programmable network devices, we offload to the network the detection of both the elephant flows and the path congestion conditions and the rescheduling mechanism. CEDRO is able to promptly cope with path congestion and failures directly from the dataplane, regardless of the availability of the external controller. We implemented CEDRO in an emulated SDN network and tested it against realistic traffic scenarios. Numerical evaluation shows CEDRO is able to improve the average and 95-th percentile of the Flow Completion Time compared to ECMP
Lifecycle modelling of an innovative durum wheat debranner
No full textDebranning is a very common technique in the grinding process of many cereals. It has the aim of removing part of the outer layers from the kernels prior to the milling process, improving production yield and product refinement. Debranning is performed using specific machines with vertical configuration. They consist of a cylindrical perforated stator and of several rotating grinding wheel arranged in series. This study focuses on the substitution of the silicon carbide grinding wheels, traditionally used in debranning systems, with innovative diamond wheels. We exploited a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to compare the two alternatives and to develop a life-cycle model of the diamond wheels. This model allowed to obtain some important technical and economic findings, and demonstrated that diamond wheels have potential to provide more effective results compared to the traditional wheels, from both the economic and reliability perspective
Lifecycle modelling of an innovative durum wheat debranner
No full textDebranning is a very common technique in the grinding process of many cereals. It has the aim of removing part of the outer layers from the kernels prior to the milling process, improving production yield and product refinement. Debranning is performed using specific machines with vertical configuration. They consist of a cylindrical perforated stator and of several rotating grinding wheel arranged in series. This study focuses on the substitution of the silicon carbide grinding wheels, traditionally used in debranning systems, with innovative diamond wheels. We exploited a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to compare the two alternatives and to develop a life-cycle model of the diamond wheels. This model allowed to obtain some important technical and economic findings, and demonstrated that diamond wheels have potential to provide more effective results compared to the traditional wheels, from both the economic and reliability perspective
Performance analysis of the water supply system of a dairy company by means of an advanced simulation tool
No full textThis work presents the result of a research project, concerning the development of a simulation model for a water supply system of a dairy company, located in Parma, Italy. The approach developed allows investigating, through process simulation, the plant areas where the efficiency of the water supply system can be significantly improved by means of some simple interventions. The final objective is to reduce the water consumption of the plant; this represents a relevant issue to the dairy industry. In line with this goal, at first the simulation model was used to reproduce the current (AS IS) system, so as to reach a precise knowledge of the water flows in the plant. In the second part of the work, a series of alternative (TO BE) scenarios was investigated, and the related performance was assessed, thus identifying the best plant configuration. The process simulator was designed under Microsoft Excel, programmed with Visual Basic for Applications. Thanks to the study implemented, an optimal scenario of the water supply system was finally identified, which allows savings up to 7.2% of water compared to the original configuration
Correction to: When terminology hinders research: the colloquialisms of transitions of control in automated driving (Cognition, Technology & Work, (2022), 10.1007/s10111-022-00705-3)
No full textIn the original article, author affiliation published with error. The correct affiliations are: Davide Maggi—Institute for Transport Studies, Leeds, UK. Richard Romano—Institute for Transport Studies, Leeds, UK. Oliver Carsten—Institute for Transport Studies, Leeds, UK. Joost C. F. De Winter—Faculty of Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands. The original article has been corrected.Human-Robot Interactio
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