1,721,427 research outputs found
Precision cosmology and neutrino properties
No full textI give an overview of what we do know from astrophysical data about some of neutrino properties and their role in cosmology. In particular, I focus on the number of effective neutrino species, active neutrino mass bounds and constraints on neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries. Finally, I also discuss the possibility of a non negligible abundance of eV mass scale sterile neutrino species in the early universe
The Value Proposition of innovative Last-Mile delivery services from the perspective of local retailers
Full text linkThe last-mile (LM) delivery is probably one of the most expensive and complex among global Supply Chain processes, and it suffers from problems such as road traffic congestion. On the other hand, urban goods delivery systems can be held accountable for the same negative externalities they suffer. The complexity of last-mile delivery systems arises from the heterogeneity of stakeholders and their objectives. In this context, local retailers might be called upon to adopt innovative last-mile delivery services offered by Logistics Service Providers (LSPs). The attractiveness of selected LM initiatives to local retailers has been explored by a stream of literature that focuses on the utility provided to the retailer by a sub-set of initiatives s, based on the retailers' preferred requirements. With this paper, we aim to build on this stream of literature by analyzing the perception of local retailers regarding the value proposition of a wider set of LM delivery innovations, including the ones that do not comprise retailers among their paying customers. To this end, a survey is submitted to retailers of different sizes and type located in the limited traffic zone (LTZ) of Turin (Italy). Through the survey, we aim to assess the relative importance of nine service requirements retrieved from literature, and cluster them into factors, i.e. value propositions, by means of a confirmatory factor analysis. Results show that retailers are able to accept higher costs for the delivery for deliveries that are more reliable and for the reduction of stock. Retailers also appear to correlate punctuality and flexibility of the LM delivery service, because flexible and on time deliveries allow for better inventory management, higher control and in turn improved customer service level by the retailer. The convenience of the delivery service is seen as correlated with its sustainability, because logistics activities can be carried out with small and low impact vehicles that allowing easier deliveries into the city center. The highlighted factors serve as a basis for the value propositions to be taken into account by practitioners in the design of LM innovations
Assessment of the Main Criticalities in the Automotive Battery Supply Chain: A Professionals’ Perspective
No full textThe environmental transition has become a crucial element in the European Commission agenda. In this context, a key role is play by the electrification of the mobility that is viewed as a feasible alternative respect to the traditional fossil fuel paradigm, due to significant energy benefits. However, the scarcity availability of raw materials for producing battery packs and their concentration in few specific areas of the world, is determining high level of uncertainties and vulnerability in the supply chains of European car manufacturers. In particular, they are heavily facing the challenges that this transition is posing, specifically considering the reorganization and the structure of the associated supply chain. Therefore, this paper aims at capturing the perspectives of automotive industry about the different stages of the battery supply chain in the electric vehicle market. To this end, a questionnaire survey has been administrated to a set of identified automotive professionals. The obtained results underline that procurement, production and recycling of batteries are the most critical steps. On the contrary, the transport and the storage of the batteries are seen less crucial. This research is intended to stimulate future studies on innovative supply chains able to better manage batteries, and it is aimed at supporting car producers on designing more accurately their supply chain and to support decision makers in more effectively develop policy in the field of the electric mobility transition
Recurrent missense variant in the nuclear export signal of FMR1 associated with FXS-like phenotype including intellectual disability, ASD, facial abnormalities
No full textFragile X syndrome (FXS; MIM 300624) is an X-linked genetic disorder characterized by physical abnormalities associated with intellectual disability and a wide spectrum of neurological and psychiatric impairments. FXS occurs more frequently in males, 1 in 5000 males and 1 in 8000 females accounting for 1–2% of overall intellectual disability (ID). In more than 99% of patients, FXS results from expansions of a CGG triplet repeat (>200 in male) of the FMR1 gene. In the last years an increasing number, albeit still limited, of FXS subjects carrying FMR1 mutations including deletions, splicing errors, missense, and nonsense variants was reported. Nevertheless, the studies concerning the functional consequences of mutations in the FMR1 gene are rare so far and, therefore, we do not have sufficient knowledge regarding the genotype/phenotype correlation. We report a child carrying a hemizygous missense FMR1 (NM_002024.5:c.1325G > A p.Arg442Gln) variant, maternally inherited, associated with facial abnormalities, developmental delay, and social and communication deficits assessed with formal neuropsychological tests. The study contributes to highlighting the clinical differences between the CGG triplet repeat dependent phenotype and FMR1variant dependent phenotype and it also confirms the pathogenicity of the variant being reported for the second time in the literature
Procedura di posizionamento dell’OBS/H sul fondo del mare mediante triangolazione con transponder acustico.
No full textPresso l’Osservatorio di Gibilmanna, unità funzionale del Centro Nazionale Terremoti, è stato
realizzato un gruppo di sette OBS/H (Ocean Bottom Seismometer with Hydrophone), grazie alla convenzione
stipulata tra l’INGV e il Dipartimento Nazionale della Protezione Civile. Questo primo gruppo di strumenti
sarà utilizzato come rete mobile sottomarina e per lo studio di faglie e vulcani localizzati sul fondo del mare.
L’OBS/H (Fig. 1) viene deposto sul punto prefissato per caduta libera, sganciandolo da una gru posta
a bordo dell’imbarcazione di supporto alla campagna ed è quindi soggetto ai moti delle correnti durante la
sua discesa che avviene ad una velocità di circa 45 m/min. Questo rende indispensabile, non appena lo
strumento abbia raggiunto il fondo, una procedura di localizzazione dello stesso per verificarne la posizione
con la maggiore accuratezza possibile, ai fini di una corretta valutazione degli epicentri degli eventi registrati
durante l’esperimento. Nei successivi paragrafi verrà descritta tale procedura e verrà illustrato il software
realizzato.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e VulcanologiaPublished2.5. Laboratorio per lo sviluppo di sistemi di rilevamento sottomariniope
Procedura di posizionamento dell’OBS/H sul fondo del mare mediante triangolazione con transponder acustico.
No full textPresso l’Osservatorio di Gibilmanna, unità funzionale del Centro Nazionale Terremoti, è stato
realizzato un gruppo di sette OBS/H (Ocean Bottom Seismometer with Hydrophone), grazie alla convenzione
stipulata tra l’INGV e il Dipartimento Nazionale della Protezione Civile. Questo primo gruppo di strumenti
sarà utilizzato come rete mobile sottomarina e per lo studio di faglie e vulcani localizzati sul fondo del mare.
L’OBS/H (Fig. 1) viene deposto sul punto prefissato per caduta libera, sganciandolo da una gru posta
a bordo dell’imbarcazione di supporto alla campagna ed è quindi soggetto ai moti delle correnti durante la
sua discesa che avviene ad una velocità di circa 45 m/min. Questo rende indispensabile, non appena lo
strumento abbia raggiunto il fondo, una procedura di localizzazione dello stesso per verificarne la posizione
con la maggiore accuratezza possibile, ai fini di una corretta valutazione degli epicentri degli eventi registrati
durante l’esperimento. Nei successivi paragrafi verrà descritta tale procedura e verrà illustrato il software
realizzato.Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e VulcanologiaPublished2.5. Laboratorio per lo sviluppo di sistemi di rilevamento sottomariniope
ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE TO COMPACTIFICATION: NONCOMMUTATIVE GEOMETRY AND RANDALL-SUNDRUM MODELS.
No full textOrder sequencing in automated storage and retrieval systems: A neural network-assisted simulation-optimisation approach
Full text linkAutomated warehouses are critical to modern supply chains. One type of automation is the automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS), which improves efficiency, reduces operational costs, and enhances inventory control. Among several optimisation problems in AS/RS, this paper focuses on the order sequencing problem (OSP) in a multi-level shuttle system, which involves finding the optimal sequence of a given number of picking orders to minimise the makespan. Because the objective function of the OSP is difficult to formulate mathematically, stochastic simulation is often used for evaluation, despite its potentially high computational cost. To address this challenge, a neural network-based metamodel (or surrogate model) is proposed to approximate the objective function. The predictive capabilities of recurrent neural networks (RNN), long short-term memory networks (LSTM), and gated recurrent units (GRU) were evaluated, with GRU identified as the most effective in predicting the makespan required to complete the order set. The GRU model was then embedded into an improved particle swarm optimisation (PSO) algorithm designed to solve the OSP. Experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the GRU-based PSO approach, showing competitive performance against established methods such as first-in-first-out, random search, multi-start simulated annealing, genetic algorithm, and standard PSO
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