Search results for "cost"

Multilayer blue-green roofs as nature-based solutions for water and thermal insulation management

2022

Abstract Green roofs have been widely recognized as sustainable nature-based solutions to mitigate floods in urban areas, which, in the last decades, are increasing due to the combination of intense worldwide urbanization and climate change. Besides flood mitigation, green roofs provide additional benefits for the urban environment (e.g., reducing the urban heat island and ensuring energy saving for the underneath building). Moreover, green roofs facilitate the increase of urban biodiversity, attracting different species of small animals, and upgrade the city aesthetic value. Among the different types of green roofs, multilayer blue-green roofs present an additional layer to store water dur…

Behind the curtain of international diversification: An agency theory perspective

2018

This paper dissects the antecedents of international diversification through the lens of the agency cost of free cash flow arguments. It explores whether the partial convergence of interests among managers, majority shareholders, and minority shareholders affects a firm's choice to diversify internationally. Using a sample panel of 60 Italian firms evaluated longitudinally from 2004 to 2014, the study tests whether a firm's international diversification is affected by its free cash flow (as the ultimate source of managerial discretion) and debt (as the main constraint to managerial discretion), especially in firm contexts that exacerbate agency problems. We find that the effects on internat…

Tra due fuochi. Esperienza e memoria della guerra lungo la linea Gustav

2003

Guided Wave Techniques for Damage Detection in Composite Aerospace Structures

2018

Composite materials make up an increasing portion of today’s aerospace structures (see, e.g. Boeing 787 and Airbus 380). These aircrafts’ fuselage, for example, is composed of a laminated composite skin connected to composite stringers and C-frames. Of primary importance is the detection of damage in these built-up structures, whether caused by the manufacturing process or in service (e.g. impacts). A related issue is the characterization of the composite (visco)elastic mechanical properties, that can also be related to the quantification of potential damage. Guided elastic waves propagating in the ~100s kHz regime lend themselves to provide the necessary sensitivity to these two conditions…

A new approach for assessing minimum flow in ephemeral streams

2009

The aim of this paper is to propose a new methodological approach, appropriate for low-yielding catchments, by calculating the ecological minimum river flow starting from the river water quality based on biological indicators and physical–chemical characteristics as reported in the Italian Water Law no. 152/06 and in the UE 2000/60 Directive (WFD: Water Framework Directive). Actually, protecting and restoring river flow regimes and hence the ecosystems they support by providing environmental flows, has become a major aspect of river basin management. In detail, pollutant concentrations downstream and fluvial structure cross-sections have been evaluated, starting from discharges released dow…

Five insights from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

2020

The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 provides a rules-based synthesis of the available evidence on levels and trends in health outcomes, a diverse set of risk factors, and health system responses. GBD 2019 covered 204 countries and territories, as well as first administrative level disaggregations for 22 countries, from 1990 to 2019. Because GBD is highly standardised and comprehensive, spanning both fatal and non-fatal outcomes, and uses a mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive list of hierarchical disease and injury causes, the study provides a powerful basis for detailed and broad insights on global health trends and emerging challenges. GBD …

Resource, environmental and economic considerations in the development of a Reverse Electrodialysis Heat Engine

The RED Heat Engine operates as a closed-loop RED system, where limited amounts of artificial saline solutions are used as working fluids. The solutions exiting from the RED unit are regenerated by means of a separation step, which uses low-temperature heat as its energy source. Essentially the system converts low-grade heat to electricity. There are two main alternative regeneration strategies: (i) extract solvent from the high salinity solution and move it to the low salinity solution or (ii) extract salt from the low salinity solution and move it to the high salinity solution. In this thesis are considered the Multi-effect distillation (MED) and the Membrane Distillation (MD) under the s…

Restrictions for reimbursement of interferon-free direct-acting antiviral drugs for HCV infection in Europe

2018

All-oral direct-acting antiviral drugs (DAAs) for hepatitis C virus, which have response rates of 95% or more, represent a major clinical advance. However, the high list price of DAAs has led many governments to restrict their reimbursement. We reviewed the availability of, and national criteria for, interferon-free DAA reimbursement among countries in the European Union and European Economic Area, and Switzerland. Reimbursement documentation was reviewed between Nov 18, 2016, and Aug 1, 2017. Primary outcomes were fibrosis stage, drug or alcohol use, prescriber type, and HIV co-infection restrictions. Among the 35 European countries and jurisdictions included, the most commonly reimbursed …

Modeling cost-effectiveness and health gains of a “universal” versus “prioritized” hepatitis C virus treatment policy in a real-life cohort

2017

We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of two alternative direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment policies in a real-life cohort of hepatitis C virus–infected patients: policy 1, “universal,” treat all patients, regardless of fibrosis stage; policy 2, treat only “prioritized” patients, delay treatment of the remaining patients until reaching stage F3. A liver disease progression Markov model, which used a lifetime horizon and health care system perspective, was applied to the PITER cohort (representative of Italian hepatitis C virus–infected patients in care). Specifically, 8,125 patients naive to DAA treatment, without clinical, sociodemographic, or insurance restrictions, were us…

PATRIMONIO STORICO SICILIANO: LE TORRI COSTIERE

2016

L’intervento di conservazione e valorizzazione delle torri costiere, che è oggetto di questo contributo, è il risultato di uno studio che mette in primo piano una metodologia di recupero edilizio fondata su una rigorosa analisi del manufatto storico e al contempo di una politica di gestione sostenibile delle risorse culturali e ambientali. Le torri costiere sono emergenze significative del territorio, tracce di pregevole rilievo della cultura difensiva siciliana per valore storico ed ambientale. Le torri hanno ancora un significato intrinseco che non è soltanto di testimonianza storica, bensì dell’essere siti privilegiati del territorio, attraverso i quali poter innescare un circuito di con…