Targeting sustainable competitiveness in Croatia by implementation of “20 Keys” methodology

Throughout the current wave of regulatory reforms, several theoretical models have been proposed that call for the emergence of instruments of self-regulation under some form of state supervision as part of the demand to improve product development performances aligned with awareness of environmental needs, to help with meeting regulation and to reduce the risk of production nonconformance. “20 Keys” is one example of a mass application of a methodology for raising sustainable development and holistic approach to competitiveness in new EU member the Republic of Croatia, and therefore, the aim of this study is to observe the results of the methodology application in Croatian companies. 20 Keys is a methodology that brings an integrated set of tools aimed at increasing overall productive efficiency and quality level with simultaneous reduction of costs. As it was shown in this paper, implementation success is coincident with senior management’s active role in setting the main goals for implementation, assuring that suitable methods and tools are used, allocating resources appropriately and enabling communication within the company

Search for antihelium in cosmic rays

The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) was flown on the space shuttle Discovery during flight STS-91 in a 51.7 degree orbit at altitudes between 320 and 390 km. A total of 2.86 * 10^6 helium nuclei were observed in the rigidity range 1 to 140 GV. No antihelium nuclei were detected at any rigidity. An upper limit on the flux ratio of antihelium to helium of < 1.1 * 10^-6 is obtained.Comment: 18 pages, Latex, 9 .eps figure

Protons in near earth orbit

The proton spectrum in the kinetic energy range 0.1 to 200 GeV was measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) during space shuttle flight STS-91 at an altitude of 380 km. Above the geomagnetic cutoff the observed spectrum is parameterized by a power law. Below the geomagnetic cutoff a substantial second spectrum was observed concentrated at equatorial latitudes with a flux ~ 70 m^-2 sec^-1 sr^-1. Most of these second spectrum protons follow a complicated trajectory and originate from a restricted geographic region.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 7 .eps figure

Housing Environmental Risk in Urban Areas: Cross Country Comparison and Policy Implications

The main aim of this paper is to assess whether there is a statistically significant environmental impact of cities within European countries. Second, starting from the estimated environmental impact of cities within European countries, the paper investigates whether cross-country variation can be explained by macro-economic factors and government policies which can play a role in mitigating such an impact. We start from individual evidence (EU-SILC data) to obtain a measure of the environmental impact of cities within countries, and then correlate the latter with macro variables to explain European heterogeneity. These estimates confirm that the environmental risk for households is particularly perceived in more densely populated urban agglomerations, although the marginal effects are quite heterogeneous between countries. Macroeconomic factors such as inequality, wealth, taxation and public spending on the environment, and macroeconomic constraints such as the public finance disequilibrium produce a strong heterogeneity between countries in determining the marginal effects of urban metropolises on household environmental risk

The CUORE cryostat: an infrastructure for rare event searches at millikelvin temperatures

The CUORE experiment is the world's largest bolometric experiment. The detector consists of an array of 988 TeO2 crystals, for a total mass of 742 kg. CUORE is presently taking data at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy, searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay of 130Te. A large custom cryogen-free cryostat allows reaching and maintaining a base temperature of about 10 mK, required for the optimal operation of the detector. This apparatus has been designed in order to achieve a low noise environment, with minimal contribution to the radioactive background for the experiment. In this paper, we present an overview of the CUORE cryostat, together with a description of all its sub-systems, focusing on the solutions identified to satisfy the stringent requirements. We briefly illustrate the various phases of the cryostat commissioning and highlight the relevant steps and milestones achieved each time. Finally, we describe the successful cooldown of CUORE

Logging integrity with blockchain structures

In developed countries, it is frequent for family members do not have the time, knowledge, or live in a close distance of their senior loved ones, so that many institutions offer their services to provide a good quality of life of older adults. To enable distributed local support, there is the need of digital platforms to allow the exchange of information. These platforms need to create trustful environments and to guarantee the integrity of the information exchanged. In this paper, it is presented a solution for a Logging Service that was developed for the SOCIAL platform, based on FHIR, which aims to solve the interoperability and data integrity of the platform user’s activity logs.publishe

Evolution of gynaecologists' practices regarding the implementation of Swiss legislation on maternity protection at work between 2008 and 2017.

In accordance with the International Labour Organization&amp;rsquo;s Maternity Protection Convention (No. 183) and European Union Directive 92/857CEE (1992), Switzerland&amp;rsquo;s Labour Law and its Maternity Protection Ordinance (OProMa) aim to protect the health of pregnant employees and their future children while enabling them to pursue their working activities. Gynaecologists-obstetricians have a key role in this legislation, particularly through the prescription of preventive leave for patients who would otherwise face dangerous or arduous tasks in the absence of an adequate risk analysis or suitable protective measures. However, international and national literature suggests that gynaecologists-obstetricians may encounter difficulties in fulfilling their role. This study aimed to: (1) describe the practices and difficulties encountered by gynaecologists-obstetricians in the practical implementation of the OProMa; and (2) compare the evolution of these practices and difficulties between 2008 and 2017. A survey by questionnaire was conducted in 2008 and repeated in 2017. Both surveys focused on gynaecologists-obstetricians working in the French-speaking part of Switzerland (in private practices, hospitals or both). Descriptive and comparative analyses were carried out. 83 gynaecologists-obstetricians responded in 2008 and 93 in 2017: response rates of 47% and 32%, respectively. In 2017, gynaecologists-obstetricians were more likely to ask questions about occupational risks faced by their patients when consulted by working mothers about their pregnancies. The estimated percentage of patients exposed to an occupational risk remained constant (20% in 2008 and 22% in 2017). Communication and collaboration with employers were reported to be difficult in both surveys, even though these are key elements in the implementation of the OProMa. Collaboration with occupational physicians, however, was more frequent in 2017. In 2017, gynaecologists-obstetricians showed a greater awareness of occupational risks and collaborated more frequently with occupational health specialists. However, the application of the OProMa remained limited over the studied time period. Improving training of gynaecologists-obstetricians in this field could be a significant factor in encouraging better implementation of the current legislation. Moreover, gynaecologists-obstetricians need to be given the necessary support to enable their clinical practice to evolve towards a more preventive type of medicine. Collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including occupational physicians, midwives and workers, should be encouraged

mTOR: from growth signal integration to cancer, diabetes and ageing

In all eukaryotes, the target of rapamycin (TOR) signalling pathway couples energy and nutrient abundance to the execution of cell growth and division, owing to the ability of TOR protein kinase to simultaneously sense energy, nutrients and stress and, in metazoans, growth factors. Mammalian TOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTORC2 exert their actions by regulating other important kinases, such as S6 kinase (S6K) and Akt. In the past few years, a significant advance in our understanding of the regulation and functions of mTOR has revealed the crucial involvement of this signalling pathway in the onset and progression of diabetes, cancer and ageing.National Institutes of Health (U.S.)Howard Hughes Medical InstituteWhitehead Institute for Biomedical ResearchJane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research (Postdoctoral Fellowship)Human Frontier Science Program (Strasbourg, France