151 research outputs found
THE INTERACTION BETWEEN NEIGHBOURHOODS' CHARACTERISTICS AND PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT IN DETERMINING VULNERABILITY TO CRIME AT MICRO PLACES. EVIDENCE FROM A MULTI-LEVEL SPATIAL CRIME RISK ASSESSMENT IN MILAN, IT AND IZTAPALAPA, MX
No full textDiverse teorie si concentrano sui legami tra criminalità e caratteristiche specifiche di luoghi e comunità. Tuttavia, solo pochi studi applicati sostengono esplicitamente che i fattori contestuali possono combinarsi nel determinare il rischio di criminalità e che le loro influenze criminogene possono operare su scala diversa. Questo studio si propone di indagare come alcune caratteristiche del paesaggio urbano (microlivello) interagiscono tra loro, nonché con le caratteristiche demografiche, economiche e sociali dell'ambiente dei quartieri circostanti (livello meso), per determinare la vulnerabilità spaziale alla criminalità e, in definitiva, la probabilità di un evento criminale. Questo studio conduce una valutazione del rischio di criminalità spaziale per rapine e crimini violenti in due grandi aree urbane: Milano, Italia e Iztapalapa, Messico. I casi di studio sono focalizzati su due paesi molto diversi, il che consente sia la valutazione dell'influenza di effetti contestuali più ampi (livello macro) sia la verifica di alcuni presupposti teorici al di fuori dell'ambiente anglosassone. L'analisi si fonda sull'approccio del Risk Terrain Modeling. Tuttavia, contrariamente alle applicazioni precedenti, l'analisi in questo studio si basa su un modello di regressione multilivello che include termini di interazione. Lo studio propone inoltre metodi innovativi attraverso i quali esporre e comunicare i propri risultati. Nel complesso, i risultati dimostrano che fattori contestuali misurati a diverse scale geografiche interagiscono in modo significativo tra loro per determinare il rischio di criminalità. Questa scoperta suggerisce di combinare input provenienti da diverse teorie al fine di comprendere le dinamiche alla base del verificarsi del crimine. Inoltre, il metodo proposto generalmente consente di prevedere meglio i crimini futuri e consente la generazione di narrazioni di rischio più precise per informare politiche e interventi.Several theories focus on the links between crime and specific characteristics of places and communities. However, only a few applied studies explicitly purport that contextual factors may combine in determining crime risk and that their criminogenic influences may operate at different geographical scales. This study aims to investigate how certain features of the urban landscape (micro-level) interact with each other, as well as with demographic, economic and social characteristics of the surrounding
neighbourhoods (meso-level), to determine spatial vulnerability to crime and, ultimately, the likelihood of a criminal event. This study conducts a spatial crime risk assessment for robberies and violent crimes in two large urban areas: Milan, Italy and Iztapalapa, Mexico. The case studies are focused on two very different countries, which allows for both the assessment of the influence of broader contextual effects (macro-level) and to test certain theoretical assumptions outside the Anglo-Saxon environment. The analysis is grounded in the Risk Terrain Modeling approach. However, in contrast to previous applications, the analysis in this study relies on a multi-level regression model including interaction terms. The study also proposes innovative methods through which to display and communicate its findings. Overall, the results demonstrate that contextual factors measured at different geographical scales interact significantly among them to determine crime risk. This finding suggests combining inputs from different theories in order to understand the dynamics behind crime occurrence. Furthermore, the proposed method generally allows us to better predict the locations of future crimes and enables the generation of more precise risk narratives to inform policies and interventions
Forecasting Organized Crime Homicides: Risk Terrain Modeling of Camorra Violence in Naples, Italy
No full textMafia homicides are usually committed for retaliation, economic profit, or rivalry among groups. The variety of possible reasons suggests the inefficacy of a preventive approach. However, like most violent crimes, mafia homicides concentrate in space due to place-specific social and environmental features. Starting from the existing literature, this study applies the Risk Terrain Modeling approach to forecast the Camorra homicides in Naples, Italy. This approach is based on the identification and evaluation of the underlying risk factors able to affect the risk of a homicide. This information is then used to predict the most likely location of future events. The findings of this study demonstrate that past homicides, drug dealing, confiscated assets, and rivalries among groups make it possible to predict up to 85% of 2012 mafia homicides, identifying 11% of city areas at highest risk. By contrast, variables controlling for the socio-economic conditions of areas are not significantly related to the risk of homicide. Moreover, this study shows that, even in a restricted space, the same risk factors may combine in different ways, giving rise to areas of equal risk but requiring targeted remedies. These results provide an effective basis for short- and long-term targeted policing strategies against organized crime- and gang-related violence. A similar approach may also provide practitioners, policy makers, and local administrators in other countries with significant support in understanding and counteracting also other forms of violent behavior by gangs or organized crime groups
Analyzing Bank Robbery in Italy
No full textEven though recent data show a decrease in the number of attacks and in the incidence of crimes committed by professional offenders, bank robbery is still a relevant issue in most American and European cities. Still, very few recent studies analyze this topic and most of them overlook the spatial and temporal patterns of this crime. This chapter analyzes the main characteristics of bank robberies occurred between 2005 and 2010 in Italy, which is the European country constantly recording the highest number of bank robberies. In particular, it focuses on the analysis of repeat victimization and its peculiarities since previous studies demonstrate the relevance of this phenomenon for bank robbery. Moreover, a further in-depth analysis investigates the victimization patterns in the Italian city of Milan from a spatio-temporal perspective. The general aim of this chapter is to update the knowledge about this type of crime considering its recent evolutions in connection with the innovations in the banking systems
Germany
No full textThis report provides the country profile of the project The Factbook on the Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products. It focuses on Germany, where illicit trade in tobacco products is not a political priority and there are no official estimates. Nevertheless, German Authorities, and especially German Customs are aware of the problem of cigarette smuggling
Solar Thermal Plant Integration into an Industrial Process
No full textAbstractThe present abstract summarizes the main analysis and design steps made for the integration of a solar thermal plant of one thousand square meters into the dyeing process of Benetton industrial facility in Tunisia. The analysis of the actual process load is done by a static model based on assumed energy and water consumptions and the real performance of the heat recovery system. The methodology to build the simplified model and its validation by monitored data will be presented. The results show the optimization potential of the heat recovery system and the temperature constraints for a good integration of the solar plant.This study presents some choices to reach an optimized integration of the solar plant and the sizing of the main components. The main design alternatives are evaluated in this article based on dynamic simulations and personal experience
Effect of microwave irradiation on the emission and capture dynamics in silicon metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors
No full textPrice and Non-price Determinants of the Illicit Cigarette Trade: Analysis at the Subnational Level in the EU
No full textDespite the heterogeneity of the illicit trade in cigarettes within countries, available studies mainly take national markets as their unit of analysis. The innovative contribution of this work is the focus on the phenomenon at the subnational level. Price and non-price factors are examined as determinants of the consumption of illicit cigarettes in 247 subnational areas of 28 European countries, exploiting a mixed linear model. This approach combines national and subnational data, thus accounting for the correlation among regions and explaining the important differences in the consumption of illicit cigarettes within a country. The size of the informal economy, the affordability of licit cigarettes, the rate of illicit cigarettes in the bordering regions, and the level of economic inequality emerge as the main etiological factors in the illicit cigarette trade in Europe
Link Prediction in Criminal Networks: A Tool for Criminal Intelligence Analysis
No full textThe problem of link prediction has recently received increasing attention from scholars in network science. In social network analysis, one of its aims is to recover missing links, namely connections among actors which are likely to exist but have not been reported because data are incomplete or subject to various types of uncertainty. In the field of criminal investigations, problems of incomplete information are encountered almost by definition, given the obvious anti-detection strategies set up by criminals and the limited investigative resources. In this paper, we work on a specific dataset obtained from a real investigation, and we propose a strategy to identify missing links in a criminal network on the basis of the topological analysis of the links classified as marginal, i.e. removed during the investigation procedure. The main assumption is that missing links should have opposite features with respect to marginal ones. Measures of node similarity turn out to provide the best characterization in this sense. The inspection of the judicial source documents confirms that the predicted links, in most instances, do relate actors with large likelihood of co-participation in illicit activities
Quality for Solar Cooling on Component Level
No full textWithin IEA-SHC Task 48 “Quality assurance and support measures for Solar Cooling” the most crucial components of solar thermal cooling plants have been analyzed in detail aiming at improving their quality. Test procedures for characterizing continuous and discontinuous chillers have been developed; market available heat rejection devices have been investigated, rating their performance through monitoring data and comparing them; pump efficiency has been also investigated and design guidelines for pump selection and hydraulic configuration are now available; a detailed and updated database of medium temperature collectors has been built
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