196,037 research outputs found
Market opportunities and owner identity: are family firms different?
No full textWe test the hypothesis that ownership of a firm does not affect the firm’s ability to seize market opportunities once decisions about productive structure are taken into account. By grouping firms in size clusters having a similar distance between the actual and the optimal size, we assess how the sensitivity of a firm’s sales to market demand changes in response to differences in the owner’s identity. We use data from a panel of 4,696 continental western European firms over the period 1995–2010 and Eurostat 3-digit sectoral data on firm size distribution. Empirical evidence rejects the hypothesis of ownership irrelevance: family firms are less sensitive to market demand than other firms, in particular when the actual size of the firm is larger than optimal and in the case of both founder- and heir-run family firms
Regulation and crises: A concave story
No full textThe paper develops a theoretical model showing a concave impact of regulation on the probability of a crisis, which is then tested by applying a non-linear Probit model, OLS estimates, and IV regressions to annual data from 138 countries over the period 1996–2017. The key result is that the probability of a financial crisis fits an inverted U-shaped curve. The latter rises as regulation tightens from low to medium levels and descends as regulatory strictness goes from medium to high levels. Countries located in the middle level of regulatory stringency are exposed to more financial instability than either low-regulation or high-regulation countries. The latter two groups of countries are caught in a “liberalization trap” and a “regulation trap,” respectively. Institutional quality interacts significantly with the regulatory environment, implying trade-offs between regulatory stringency and institutional quality
GNC architecture solutions for robust operations of a free-floating space manipulator via image based visual servoing
No full textOn-orbit servicing often requires the use of robotic arms, and a key asset in this kind of operations is autonomy. In this framework, the use of optical devices is a solution, already analyzed in many researches both for autonomous rendezvous and docking and for the evaluation of the control of the manipulator. In the present paper, simulations for assessing the controller performance are realized in a high-fidelity purposely developed software architecture, in which not only the selected 6 DOF space manipulator is modeled, but also a virtual camera, acquiring in the loop images of the target CAD model imported, is included in the GNC loop. This approach allows to emphasis several problems that would not emerge in simulations with ideal images. At the scope, a specific GNC architecture is developed, based on finite-state machine logic. According to this approach, two different IBVS strategies are alternatively performed, commanding only linear or angular velocity of the camera, switching between the two control techniques when the “stack” or “divergence” condition is triggered. In this way a stable and robust accomplishment of the tasks is achieved for many configurations and for different target models
Regulation, financial crises, and liberalization traps
No full textThis paper examines how financial regulation and institutional quality affect the probability of a banking crisis using a panel of 138 countries over the period 1996–2017. Our key inference is that the probability of a financial crisis fits an inverted U-shaped curve: it rises as regulation stringency moves from low to medium levels and falls from medium to high levels. Countries located in the intermediate level of regulatory stringency face more financial instability than either loosely or severely regulated countries, which are caught in a “liberalization trap” and a “regulation trap,” respectively. Institutional quality interacts significantly with the regulatory environment, implying a trade-off with regulatory stringency
GNC architecture solutions for robust operations of a free-floating space manipulator via image based visual servoing
Get PDFOn-orbit servicing often requires the use of robotic arms, and a key asset in this kind of operations is autonomy. In this framework, the use of optical devices is a solution, already analyzed in many researches both for autonomous rendezvous and docking and for the evaluation of the control of the manipulator. In the present paper, simulations for assessing the controller performance are realized in a high-fidelity purposely developed software architecture, in which not only the selected 6 DOF space manipulator is modeled, but also a virtual camera, acquiring in the loop images of the target CAD model imported, is included in the GNC loop. This approach allows to emphasis several problems that would not emerge in simulations with images characterized by easily-identifiable, purposely-created markers. At the scope, a specific GNC architecture is developed, based on finite-state machine logic. According to this approach, two different Image Based Visual Servoing strategies are alternatively performed, commanding only linear or angular velocity of the camera, switching between the two control techniques when the “stack” or “divergence” condition is triggered. In this way a stable and robust accomplishment of the tasks is achieved for many configurations and for different target models
A model-based simulation approach to support the product configuration and optimization of gas turbine ducts
No full textNowadays, product configuration and optimization are very important topics in several industrial applications such as the manufacturing of Engineered-to-order (ETO) products, where there is a fierce increase in market competition. The product configuration allows past design solutions to be reused and new product variants to be defined and pre-designed. However, the delivery of new configurations of products requires a technical feasibility analysis before closing the contract of the order with the customer. There is a lack of commercial tools which can support the designer from the early configuration phase to the product optimization with the automatic generation of geometric models and simulations. While traditional software tools can be used for the product configuration, with automation in the CAD modeling, other ones can combine optimization algorithms with numerical simulations. However, the combination of all these design levels requires the development of a dedicated platform tools. The research aims to reduce time and cost related to the early design phase of an oil & gas system, focusing on gas turbine ducts. The paper proposes a methodological approach to integrate the design optimization with the product configuration using Model-Based simulations to verify the technical feasibility and to optimize the product design. As a test case, the early design of a gas turbine chimney is proposed
The Internationalisation of Higher Education in the Mediterranean
Get PDFThe internationalisation of higher education is aimed at enhancing the quality and standards of
teaching and research. This study addresses mobility and cross-border education trends in the
Euro-Mediterranean region, with special emphasis on academic exchange, involving students,
scholars and administrative staff, as well as on the strategic international partnerships across
the globe. The study focuses on 10 countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya,
Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine and Tunisia. It aims to investigate the internationalisation of
higher education focusing especially on resources and opportunities available at the national and
regional levels, to identify obstacles and challenges and to outline transferable inspiring practices
and finally to make a series of recommendations for the Union for the Mediterranean to foster
regional integration. As for the methodology, a survey investigating teaching and administrative
staff as well as student mobility was submitted to a sample of universities representing the 10
target countries; further interviews with international and regional stakeholders were conducted,
focus groups were established, involving the universities covered by the study and a thorough
desk research was undertaken. As a result, the report presents a detailed context analysis
with a focus on mobility flows to and from the 10 target countries, complemented by a wide
range of inspiring and scalable practices, as well as an overview of the role played by regional
organisations in providing opportunities, creating synergies and making resources available for
the higher education institutions in the Mediterranean. Country-specific recommendations were
designed in order to address national challenges. At the end of the research and consultative
process, a number of common themes for the Euro-Mediterranean region were also identified,
in relation to which additional recommendations were drafted, with the aim of enhancing the
internationalisation of higher education in the region. We are still far from the finish line and this
report has the ambitious goal to represent a building block for those willing to further explore
the issue. Here follow the main findings, which are common to more than one country: Erasmus+
emerged as the programme generating the largest impact on the internationalisation strategies
of higher education institutions; the need for university leadership to consider the administrative
staff as a key element to support internationalisation; the high fragmentation in the procedures
and systems of credit recognition and assessment of qualifications; difficulties were encountered
in collecting reliable and comparable data. Obtaining visas for international mobility, especially
for MENA countries to access Europe, has always been a serious obstacle to exchanges and
international cooperation should focus more on human and social sciences, often neglected
compared to hard sciences. Above all, the study highlights how, in most cases, internationalisation
is simply identified as mobility, while a more comprehensive internationalisation strategy would
be highly beneficial for institutions and staff and may increase attractiveness and participation
Health Promoting Schools, Oral Health Multimedia Project in primary schools in Italy
No full textAim:Health Promoting Schools teaches students about knowledge, attitudes and values that guide them to make health-orien-
ted choices. This project aimed to test the effectiveness of a multimedia game designed for elementary school children to teach basic concepts of oral health and use the instrument to identify students’ knowledge.Methods:A specially designed multimedia game on oral health was administered in computer classes, before (T0) and after (T1) an educational stage, to 1300 third (8-9 years) and fifth graders (10-11 years) of elementary schools in two provinces of medium-small cities in Central Italy (Terni and Latina). The test was anonymous and there was no need for ethical approval. Informed parental consent was collected before the first administration. The schools included urban and rural areas of the two provinces. The statistical test used was the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed- rank test. Results:Response rate was 90.6% (due to absence on the game administration date). Of 1300 students tested the average percentage of the correct answers was 40.7% before oral health lessons
and 59.2% afterwards. On the whole there was an improving trend of correct answers from T0 to T1, which was significant (p
< 0.05). Best results were for fifth graders (+ 17.5%), extended school time schedulers (+18.1%) and females (+18.9%). However, the results show poor overall Oral Health knowledge, the total of correct answers achieved was below 60%. These data
are even more worrying, given the simplicity of the questions.
Conclusions: The school has proved an ideal environment for this oral health promotion project, both for the catchment area, and for efficiency and speed of child population screening. The results stress the importance of the school environment for access to health services for all socio- economic classes. Creating a game with multimedia features has proved a valuable tool to attract the attention of children in an era where technology influences mass communication
A multimedia oral health promoting project in primary schools in central Italy
Get PDFThe purpose of the study Project was to test the effectiveness of a multimedia game designed in order to attract the attention of primary school children to oral health basic concepts and use the instrument to assess students’ knowledge. An originally designed multimedia game on oral health was administered in the computer class rooms, before (T0) and after (T1) an educational stage, to third (8-9 years) and fifth graders (10-11 years) of primary schools in urban and rural areas of two provinces of medium-small cities in Center Italy (Terni and Latina).
Considered variables were: age, gender, school time schedule (only antemeridian, extended schedule). The statistical test used was the non-parametric Wilcox on signed-rank test. Response rate was 90.6% (due to absence on the due date). 1,300 students were involved. Overall, the average of the correct answers was 40.7% before oral health lessons and 59.2% after. An improving trend of correct answers was recorded from T0 to T1, significantly (p
< 0.05) among: fifth graders (+ 17.5%), extended school time schedulers (+18.1%) and females (+18.9%). The results, however, show poor global oral health knowledge, being total percentage of correct answers below 60%. The results stress the importance of the school environment as access to health promotion for all socio-economic classes. The multimedia educational approach has proved a valuable and updated tool to attract the attention of digital native children
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