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CEKLJ, EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
493.
Case studies of automation in services CIRILLO Valeria; RINALDINI Matteo; VIRGILLITO, Maria Enrica ...
IDEAS Working Paper Series from RePEc,
01/2022
Paper
Open access
A full understanding of the technological complexity underlying robotics and automation is still lacking, most of all when focusing on the impacts on work in services. By means of a qualitative ...analysis based on over 50 interviews to HR managers, IT technicians, workers and trade union delegates, this work provides evidence on the main changes occurring at shopfloor level in selected Italian companies having adopted technological artefacts potentially affecting labour tasks by automating processes. The analysis of interviews complemented with visits to the companies and desk research on business documents highlights that so far labour displacement due to the adoption of automation technologies is not yet in place, while tasks and organizational reconfiguration appear more widespread. Major heterogeneity applies across plants due to the final product/service produced, the techno-organizational capabilities of the firm and the type of strategic orientation versus technological adoption. These elements also affect drivers and barriers to technological adoption. Overall, the analysis confirms the complexity in automating presumably low-value-added phases: human labour remains crucial in conducting activities that require flexibility, adaptability and reconfiguration of physical tasks. Further, human agency and worker representation, in particular the role of trade unions, are almost disregarded and not considered by the firms when deciding to introduce a new technology.
Due to the finite pulse repetition frequency and non-ideal antenna pattern, the presence of "ghosts" on SAR images of maritime scenes is frequently observed. This phenomenon can lead to an increase ...in false alarm rate in ship-detection applications. In this paper we propose to use the recently developed "asymmetric mapping and selective filtering" (AM&SF) method for the filtering of azimuth ambiguities on stripmap SAR images as a preliminary step of an adaptive-threshold cell-averaging constant-false-alarm-rate ship-detection algorithm. We show that use of this preliminary filtering step allows us to significantly improve the performance of the ship detection by reducing the false alarm rate, without reducing the detection rate. The proposed framework is positively applied to a couple of Cosmo/SkyMed SAR images.
Background. Nineteenth-century physicians working with cancer patients frequently reported that severe emotional losses and grief occurred in some cases before cancer. Research on ...psychoneuroimmunology seems to reactivate this interest and could give a possible convincing background. Method: We recently observed the case of a 45-year-old woman who developed symptoms of breast cancer (ductal infiltrating carcinoma, T1, N1, M0) 3 years after the loss of her only child. The affection for the child compensated inadequacies of her marriage, which became increasingly unstable. The child died in a dramatic accident at home, while his mother was near him but unable to help. Results: The patient had a moderate genetic-familial risk of mammary cancer. Animal studies strongly suggest that stress, through neuroimmunomodulatory mediatory mechanisms, can significantly affect appearance and progression of mammary cancer. The patient developed long-lasting intense grief, despair and hopelessness. Discussion: We discuss the case from three main standpoints: genetic and risk factors for breast cancer; findings which demonstrated a relationship between stress, neuroimmunomodulation and cancer in animals; data from autopsy studies which found foci of latent breast cancer in 20% of healthy women in the same age range. Stress does not create cancer. However we hypothesize that in this case it could have contributed by the activation of a latent neoplasia and/or by impairing immunosurveillance during a critical life phase.
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We propose the development of X-ray interferometry (XRI), to reveal the universe at high energies with ultra-high spatial resolution. With baselines which can be accommodated on a single spacecraft, ...XRI can reach 100 \(\mu\)as resolution at 10 \AA (1.2 keV) and 20 \(\mu\)as at 2 \AA (6 keV), enabling imaging and imaging-spectroscopy of (for example) X-ray coronae of nearby accreting supermassive black holes (SMBH) and the SMBH `shadow'; SMBH accretion flows and outflows; X-ray binary winds and orbits; stellar coronae within ~100 pc and many exoplanets which transit across them. For sufficiently luminous sources XRI will resolve sub-pc scales across the entire observable universe, revealing accreting binary SMBHs and enabling trigonometric measurements of the Hubble constant with X-ray light echoes from quasars or explosive transients. A multi-spacecraft `constellation' interferometer would resolve well below 1 \(\mu\)as, enabling SMBH event horizons to be resolved in many active galaxies and the detailed study of the effects of strong field gravity on the dynamics and emission from accreting gas close to the black hole.
The widespread use of modern diagnostic imaging techniques, especially computed tomography and sonography, has led to the detection of an increasing number of serendipitous renal neoplasms, with no ...signs nor symptoms related to the neoplastic renal disease. In the last 4 years, 54 consecutive patients (20 females and 34 males) with renal cell carcinoma were reviewed. In 26 patients (48.15 per cent) the diagnosis was made as an incidental finding by an abdominal ultrasound examination. Clear signs and symptoms related to the neoplastic disease were present in 28 cases (51.85 per cent). The pathologic type of each neoplasm was categorized, and each carcinoma was staged. In the patients not surgically treated, the stage was determined on the basis of the diagnostic imaging reports. The results of this study suggest that the incidentally detected tumors are of a significantly lower stage than the symptomatic tumors (Wilcoxon rank sum test: P less than 0.0073 and X2 test: P less than 0.013). Early detection of renal tumors may improve the prognosis and the overall survival of patients with renal cell carcinoma and allow one to plan radical or partial nephrectomy, since local extension has a considerable impact on the operative strategy. Our experience emphasizes the role of ultrasound in the increased early detection of renal cell carcinoma.
This study assessed the involvement of peritumoral renal cell carcinoma tissue and evaluated the efficacy of partial resection versus enucleation by an anatomopathological investigation into the ...resection margins in 28 cases of partial nephrectomy.
Histological findings showed no peritumoral infiltration in 91.6% of elective partial resections (24 patients) and resection margin involvement in 75% of necessary partial resections (4 patients).
Although the debate between organ-preserving and radical surgery remains open, the conservative approach can undoubtedly be recommended in selected patients.
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