Search results for "SVI"

LXXI Congresso Nazionale dell'Unione Zoologica Italiana

2010

Correlation between HHV-6 reactivation and multiple sclerosis disease activity.

2002

This study examined the association between HHV-6 infection and multiple sclerosis (MS) and the relationship between HHV-6 reactivation and disease activity. The frequency of HHV-6 genomic sequences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), the incidence of plasma viremia (nPCR), the transcription of viral mRNA in PBMCs (RT-PCR), the presence of antiviral IgM and IgG class antibodies in the plasma (IFA) of 16 relapsing/remitting and secondary progressive MS patients were studied in comparison with clinical manifestations of the disease, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of brain, and serum interleukin (IL)-12 concentrations (ELISA). The prevalence of HHV-6 infection was significantly hi…

Reverse electrodialysis heat engine with multi-effect distillation: Exergy analysis and perspectives

2019

Abstract The increasing worldwide energy demand is rising the interest on alternative power production technologies based on renewable and emission-free energy sources. In this regard, the closed-loop reverse electrodialysis heat engine is a promising technology with the potential to convert low-grade heat into electric power. The reverse electrodialysis technology has been under investigation in the last years to explore the real potentials for energy generation from natural and artificial solutions, and recent works have been addressing also the potential of its coupling with regeneration strategies, looking at medium and large energy supply purposes. In this work, for the first time, a c…

Thermodynamic, Exergy, and Thermoeconomic analysis of Multiple Effect Distillation Processes

2018

Abstract Multiple effect distillation (MED) is nowadays the preferred technology for the construction of new plants based on thermal processes in the growing desalination market. MED technology, in fact, presents a number of advantages with respect to the more traditional multistage flash technology, among all the lower energy consumption achievable in MED plants. However, a large potential for improvement in terms of lowering production costs still exists, which stimulates further efforts on process optimization from companies and researchers involved in the field. Thermodynamic and exergy analysis provides useful insights regarding the identification of main inefficiencies and the margins…

Exergy analysis of reverse electrodialysis

2018

Abstract Reverse electrodialysis in closed loop configurations is a promising membrane technology in the energy conversion and storage fields. One of the main advantages of closed-loop reverse electrodialysis is the possibility of using a wide range of operating concentrations, flow rates and different salts for generating the salinity gradient. In this work, an original exergy analysis of the reverse electrodialysis process was carried out in order to investigate reverse electrodialysis performance in terms of energetic and exergetic efficiency parameters in a wide range of operating conditions. A mono-dimensional model of the reverse electrodialysis process was developed, in which all sou…

What determines a positive attitude towards natural food products? An expectancy theory approach.

2021

Natural food products are becoming increasingly popular worldwide due to their health and environmental benefits. However, these products' increasing anecdotal popularity has not translated into their widespread adoption; in fact, demand for natural food products remains confined to a relatively small segment of consumers. Despite this, little is known about the facilitators and inhibitors of favourable attitude of consumers towards these products. Recognising this gap, our study employed the theoretical lens of expectancy theory to investigate these factors. Through an extensive review of the pro-environmental consumption literature, we identified four facilitating and inhibiting factors: …

Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability of Local Community: A Case Study of the Transnational Project in China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

2019

While achieving great benefits, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has triggered potential problems between the transnational projects and local communities in the participant countries. However, there is still a knowledge gap on how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is adopted, and how CSR affects the local community. Based on a context of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), this research exploits a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to fill the gap. It finds that the CSR activities in the CPEC project are initiated by the long-term CSR initiative. Organized by the professional CSR foundation in an autonomous environment, the panoramic CSR activities are governed …

Effects of reading proficiency and of base and whole-word frequency on reading noun- and verb-derived words: An eye-tracking study in Italian primary…

2018

The aim of this study is to assess the role of readers’ proficiency and of the base-word distributional properties on eye-movement behavior. Sixty-two typically developing children, attending 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade, were asked to read derived words in a sentence context. Target words were nouns derived from noun bases (e.g., umorista, ‘humorist’), which in Italian are shared by few derived words, and nouns derived from verb bases (e.g., punizione, ‘punishment’), which are shared by about 50 different inflected forms and several derived words. Data shows that base and word frequency affected first-fixation duration for nouns derived from noun bases, but in an opposite way: base frequency ha…

Greenfield FDI attractiveness index: a machine learning approach

2022

Purpose This study aims to propose a comprehensive greenfield foreign direct investment (FDI) attractiveness index using exploratory factor analysis and automated machine learning (AML). We offer offer a robust empirical measurement of location-choice factors identified in the FDI literature through a novel method and provide a tool for assessing the countries' investment potential. Design/methodology/approach Based on five conceptual key sub-domains of FDI, We collected quantitative indicators in several databases with annual data ranging from 2006 to 2019. This study first run a factor analysis to identify the most important features. It then uses AML to assess the relative importance of…

Le prospettive di rilancio dell’economia della pesca siciliana nel passaggio dal FEP al FEAMP. Il ruolo delle realtà aggregative del settore e l’elab…

2013

Il capitolo contiene un esame aggiornato dello stato di avanzamento delle misure relative al fondo strutturale per la pesca nel periodo 2007-2013 (FEP) al fine di valutarne gli effetti su una possibile ripresa economica del settore. Tale analisi, in una fase di quasi completamento del FEP, viene messa in rapporto agli interventi previsti nel nuovo programma per il periodo 2014-2020 (FEAMP) allo scopo di: a) valutare la coerenza e la continuità delle strategie dei fondi strutturali destinati al settore della pesca siciliano in rapporto all’obiettivo di arrestare il declino strutturale del settore; b) individuare i possibili raccordi tra le politiche strutturali della vecchia e nuova programm…