Une approche juridique duale du secteur alimentaire -- fondée sur la distinction entre les produits agricoles et les denrées alimentaires -- a longtemps prévalu en droit communautaire. Les produits destinés à satisfaire une fonction commune -- l'alimentation -- ont donc été réglementés sur des fondements juridiques distincts, entraînant ainsi la poursuite d'objectifs et la mise en œuvre de procédures législatives différents.<br />Une remise en cause de cette approche est manifeste depuis le déclenchement de la crise de la " Vache folle " en mars 1996. Crise de prime abord conjoncturelle, elle a eu de nombreuses implications notamment quant au mode d'appréhension de tout le secteur alimentaire, dont elle invite à revisiter le statut juridique. <br />Largement réorganisé, celui-ci tend à devenir le cadre d'une action cohérente grâce à la consécration de la notion de chaîne alimentaire et au développement d'instruments adaptés à la gestion des risques. De plus, la poursuite de l'objectif de sécurité alimentaire oriente désormais toute l'action communautaire fondée sur les principes de précaution et de prévention. Ces nouvelles orientations devront être pleinement articulées avec les exigences des accords multilatéraux conclus dans le cadre de l'OMC et, par ailleurs, elles confortent, peu à peu, les droits à la protection de la santé et à l'information reconnus aux consommateurs. Faudrait-il au-delà leur reconnaître un droit fondamental à la sécurité ?

Ricerca sperimentale sulla valutazione della performance nei servizi pubblici. Il lavoro è articolato in due parti: nella prima, dopo una ricognizione internazionale della letteratura e delle principali esperienze della misurazione, gestione e valutazione della performance, viene costruito e argomentato un framework sperimentale per la valutazione della performance dei network pubblici. La seconda sezione presenta uno studio di caso sperimentale per validare il framework. Lo studio di caso ha in oggetto il policy network per la gestione del PTDAR dei pazienti con lesione midollare. Viene considerato come network il territorio regionale e unità di analisi è collocata a livello micro in un unità dipartimentale: Unità Spinale Unipolare. Il framework risulta consistente e promettente per la valutazione dei policy network per le cure integrate. / Experimental case study design for the performance evaluation of health care public services. The thesis is broken down into two main parts: the first part deals with the performance framework construction wherein the international theoretical literature and experiences realized are retrieved and discussed. The second part deliveries an experimental case study design to validate the framework proposed. The case studies focuses on the integrated care pathway for persons whit spinal cord injury/dysfunction. The policy network sets out the Regional policy making and the unity of analysis is a Spinal Unit specialized centre. The framework proved to be consistent and adapted for evaluating policy network for integrated care.

This report is the result of a master thesis at Linköping University - Institute of Technology and Uppsala University at the request of the chassi workshop at Scania CV AB in Södertälje. Since the beginning of the 90's, Scania CV AB has had a close cooperation with Toyota from which, among other things, the Scania Production System (SPS) has evolved. SPS explains Scanias' values, principles and priorities. The Technician department (MST) at Scania Chassi in Södertälje believes that SPS can streamline the technicians work and help them become a more homogeneous group.   The purpose of this master thesis is to initiate an implementation of SPS within MST through two pilot projects involving both the product and process technicians. The SPS principle Normal Situation - Standardised working method was required to be implemented within one work task each for the two groups of technicians with special attention on the three subprinciples Standardisation, Takt and Balanced flow.   The master thesis fulfilled its purpose as the two pilot projects initiated the implementation of SPS within MST and the three sub-principles Standardisation, Takt and Balanced flow were implemented within the two chosen work tasks. An improvement of the new work procedure for the work tasks was also noted.   Following the completion of the thesis, it could be established that SPS can be implemented on almost all of the technicians work tasks, and therefore the chances are good for continuous implementations of SPS within MST. / Föreliggande rapport är resultatet av ett examensarbete vid Linköpings tekniska högskola och Uppsala universitet utfört på uppdrag av Chassimonteringen vid Scania CV AB i Södertälje.   Scania har sedan början av nittiotalet haft ett nära samarbete med Toyota ur vilket bland annat filosofin Scanias Produktionssystem (SPS) har utvecklats, som beskriver Scanias värderingar, principer och prioriteringar. SPS anses vara en av Scanias konkurrensfördelar och har visat sig öka effektiviteten och produktiviteten i produktionen, dit monteringsverksamheten vid Chassi inkluderas. Teknikorganisationen (MST) har som uppgift att stötta monteringsverksamheten och tror att en implementering av SPS kan hjälpa även dem att effektiviseras och skapa en mer homogen organisation.   Syftet med examensarbetet är att påbörja en implementering av SPS inom MST genom varsitt pilotprojekt för produkt- respektive processteknikerna. SPS-principen Normalläge - Standardiserat arbetssätt ska implementeras inom varsin arbetsuppgift för respektive teknikergrupp och speciellt fokus ska läggas på underprinciperna Standardisering, Takt och Balanserat flöde.   En lyckad implementering av SPS inom teknikernas arbete krävde en förankring bland teknikerna för att skapa en egen vilja hos dem att förändra sitt arbetssätt. Detta uppnåddes genom att vid ett seminarium förklara examensarbetets syfte och fördelar med att arbeta enligt SPS samt genom att engagera teknikerna så mycket som möjligt under implementeringens gång. Exempelvis valde teknikerna själva ut inom vilken arbetsuppgift SPS skulle implementeras, skrev sina egna standarder och förbättrade det nya arbetssättet när problem uppstod. Examensarbetet skapade även förbättringsgruppmöten, vilka fungerade som ett forum för teknikerna att ta upp och genomföra förbättringsförslag.   Examensarbetet uppfyllde sitt syfte då varsitt pilotprojekt för produkt- respektive processteknikerna påbörjade en implementering av SPS inom MST och underprinciperna till Normalläge - Standardiserat arbetssätt implementerades inom de utvalda arbetsuppgifterna. Speciellt fokus lades på underprinciperna Standardisering, Takt och Balanserat flöde. Det kunde även konstateras att förbättringar hade skett för de två utvalda arbetsuppgifterna då dels de inom examensarbetet utförda mätningarna visade att teknikerna upplevde att deras arbete överensstämde mer med SPS efter implementeringen, dels det faktum att det nya arbetssättet uppfyllde alla principer och värderingar i SPS.   Avslutningsvis kan det, utifrån examensarbetet, konstateras att det finns möjlighet att implementera SPS inom nästan alla arbetsuppgifter för en tekniker och därmed finns det goda förutsättningar för Scania Chassi att fortsätta implementera SPS inom MST.

Oggetto della ricerca è la riflessione sullo sport nella sua dimensione mediale, argomento che ha trovato solo recentemente una riconosciuta significatività all'interno delle scienze sociali. Attraverso un approccio multidisciplinare, il lavoro si propone di delineare una mappatura delle linee di riflessione riconducibili a un corpus organico individuabile nei media sport studies. La convinzione che esista uno specifico dello sport (inteso come substrato comunicativo ma anche come linguaggio) ha orientato l'indagine sulla sua rappresentazione televisiva, e sulle modalità di ospitalità o di appropriazione che si definiscono anche nei termini di reciprocità. L'indagine è stata condotta sia seguendo un percorso di tipo diacronico, nella ricostruzione dei vincoli e dei condizionamenti che lo sport ha esercitato nell'evoluzione del sistema radiotelevisivo italiano, sia di tipo sincronico, nell'osservazione del prodotto televisivo recente, individuato come vero e proprio sovra-genere. Ne emerge che lo sport si sottopone a una messa in discorso da parte della televisione che segue la linearità temporale dello svolgimento della gara, nella quale trovano una piena realizzazione comunicativa le fasi della preparazione, della performance e della celebrazione. / Aim of the research is to reflect on sport in its media dimension, a subject which has only recently achieved an acknowledged meaning in the field of social sciences. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, the research aims to outline a map of the reflection lines leading to an organic individual corpus in media sport studies. Believing in specifics of sports as communicative substrate, but also as a language, has directed the research on television representation and on the formalities of hospitality and appropriation to be defined even in terms of reciprocality. The research has followed a path of diachronic type, rebuilding the conditioning exerted by sport on the evolution of the Italian radio-television system and of a synchronic type, observing recent television products, identified as acknowledged true super-genres. Sport is thus object of a presentation by television following time linearity in the development of the game; here the stages of preparation and progress of the performance find a complete communicative realization.

The theme of my thesis is to investigate the diffraction behavior of subwavelength holes in metal films, and to understand the surface plasmons' (SPs) role in aperture far-field diffraction. We have built a home-made goniometer setup with high-level quality. A series of single hole continuously ranging from k*r>>1 to k*r<

La letteratura economica e politologica evidenzia un ampio consenso sull’esistenza di un effetto positivo sulla crescita di lungo periodo da parte di diritti di proprietà, stato di diritto e, in generale, istituzioni economiche. Contestualmente, il rapporto tra democrazia e crescita rimane teoricamente poco chiaro mentre l'evidenza empirica è in gran parte inconcludente. Questo studio cerca di riconciliare i fatti stilizzati su crescita e democrazia qui evidenziati, che dimostrano l'esistenza di un "successo sinergico" negli ultimi trent'anni, con la teoria esistente e l’evidenza empirica. Dopo aver dettagliatamente scandagliato la letteratura esistente, questo studio suggerisce che l’effetto della democrazia sulla crescita di lungo periodo sia indiretto, mediato dalle istituzioni. Per testare questa ipotesi si propone un modello di analisi originale, applicato ad un panel di 194 paesi osservati nel periodo 1961-2010, utilizzando lo stimatore System-GMM e una vasta gamma di controlli. I risultati dell’analisi suggeriscono che la democrazia è positivamente correlata a istituzioni “più favorevoli” alla crescita economica, in particolare diritti di proprietà e stato di diritto. Inoltre, l’evidenza empirica supporta la tesi di un effetto indiretto complessivamente positivo della democrazia sulla crescita. Infine, si propone uno sviluppo ulteriore dell’analisi, concentrato sulle determinanti della democrazia, ricercando possibili concause nell’interazione con i processi economici. / Economic and political science literature show a wide consensus about the positive effect of property rights, contract enforcing arrangements and, more generally, economic institutions to long-run growth. Conversely, the linkage between democracy and growth remains unclear and not conclusively supported by empirical research. This work is an attempt to reconcile the stylized facts about democracy and growth –evidencing a long-run “synergic success” between the two terms – with theoretical and empirical literature. After thoroughly surveying the relevant literature on the topic, this study claims that the effect of democracy on long-run growth is indirect, channeled by the means of institutions. To test this hypothesis, the thesis provides an original analytical framework which is applied to a panel of 194 countries over the period 1961-2010, adopting a System-GMM estimation technique and a wide range of robustness controls. The results suggest that democracy is positively related to “better” (namely more growth-enhancing) institutions, especially with respect to economic institutions and rule of law. Hence, the findings suggest that the overall effect on growth is positive, indirect and channeled by institutions. However, since the results are not completely conclusive, a further investigation is suggested, on further determinants of democracy, potentially affecting its pro-growth effect.

There exist large number of techniques for the preparation of nanostructured materials. Among them the preparation of nanopowders by gas/vapour condensation is a popular one. Because of very high level of surface to volume ratio, powders of metals which may or may not be reactive in the bulk form undergo vigorous oxidation. Oxidation once initiated continues in an auto catalytic fashion leading to a rise in temperature further increasing the oxidation rate. Therefore, the nanopowders are consolidated in situ under high vacuum. Alternatively a thin passivating oxide layer of few nm can be produced by slow exposure to air. Such powders lend themselves to be handled in further processing in ambient atmosphere. The main objective of the present research is to understand the various scientific and technological issues involved in preparing such passivated nanopowders by levitational gas condensation (LGC) technique, a relatively less explored vapour condensation process and their subsequent consolidation by the powder metallurgical route of compaction and sintering. The nanopowders systems studied are Fe and Fe-Cu (4 wt. %Cu). In chapter 1 a brief review of the gas condensation process and the consolidation behavior of nanopowders produced by this method were carried out. Existing knowledge on various topics relevant for the present study like formation of nanoparticles, agglomeration during gas condensation, physical, structural and chemical nature of the passive layer formed during passivation, compaction and sintering behaviour of this passivated nanopowders were discussed. Chapter 2 details the synthesis of Fe nanopowders by levitational gas condensation process and its physical and structural characteristics. The nanopowders in the as synthesized condition showed extremely low packing density due to loosely packed weakly interlocked agglomerates. The nanoparticles manifest as three dimensional reticulated spongy structure composed of chains of these nanoparticles. Heat transfer calculation carried out to determine the particle temperature at different distance from the levitating drop indicates that the nanoparticles can be ferromagnetic at a distance of less than 2 mm away from the levitation drop and hence the magnetic nature of the materials plays an important role in the formation of nanoparticle chains and spongy agglomerates. Passivation of the nanopowders by slow exposure to air produces 3-4 nm thick oxide layer (Fe3O4) over α-Fe and the volume of these oxides was around 45%. The 3rd chapter presents and discusses the results of Fe-Cu alloy nanopowder synthesized by levitating gas condensation process. While synthesis of elemental nanopowders by gas condensation is straight forward as the operating conditions only influence the particle size, alloys require careful control of the levitating drop composition. Although initially we start the process with levitated drop of required composition, the vapour generated will be richer in more volatile element (Cu in our case). Thus the composition of the levitated drop progressively becomes deficient in Cu which in turn reduces Cu in the vapour. Composition of the drop can be stabilised by continuous feeding of the alloy of required composition that can be estimated from the knowledge of equilibrium relation. To establish the equilibrium relationship between composition of the liquid and vapour in evaporation and condensation, phase diagram in the liquid and vapour region was calculated and was validated by determining composition of the drops. Good agreement between the drop composition and the composition predicted by the phase diagram were observed. Various physical, chemical and structural properties of the Fe-Cu nanopowders are characterized in detail using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermogravimetry (TG) analysis. The overall chemical composition of the Fe-Cu alloy nanopowders and of the individual agglomerates is same as the composition of feed materials used. However, Cu was found to segregate to the surface of the nanopowders which is attributed to minimization of surface energy with Cu at the surface. The total weight loss observed in TG in flowing hydrogen indicates that the surface passive layer of Fe-Cu appears to be very thin compared to Fe. The consolidation behaviour of both Fe and Fe-Cu nanopowders was studied by both conventional and spark plasma sintering (SPS) and are discussed in chapter 4. The as collected nanopowders from the apparatus have extremely low apparent density. The powders were further subjected to soft milling in a ball mill under ethanol to disentangle the agglomerates there by improving the pack density. A tenfold improvement was achieved thus making it suitable for consolidation. Uniaxial compaction of these powders for conventional sintering at pressure below 200 MPa yielded compacts free from defects. However, at higher pressure the compacts cracks and delaminates during ejection stage. Analysis of the compaction curves helped us to understand various processes involved during compaction as well as providing explanation for lower green density of Fe-Cu powder compared to Fe. Conventional sintering of the nanopowders compacts were carried out in the flowing hydrogen atmosphere in a laboratory vacuum furnace over wide range of temperatures. Instrumented sintering experiments were also carried out in a dilatometer under hydrogen atmosphere to evaluate shrinkage rate at different temperatures. SPS were carried out under 10 Pa vacuum at a compaction pressure of 250 MPa in WC-Co die cavity. The stability, density and residual oxygen content of the sintered compacts were quantified. Detailed microstuctural analysis of the sintered samples were also carried out using optical microscopy, atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy and quantitative composition analysis by EDS. Conventionally sintered compacts of both the powders showed stability only when sintered at 700°C and beyond. The maximum shrinkage/densification occured around 450°C for both the powders and the densification rate observed in Fe-Cu is three times higher than Fe. This enhanced densification in Fe-Cu is attributed to an enhanced diffusivity of Fe atoms in the transient liquid Cu layer formed at the interfaces. The microstructure of Fe-Cu is completely free from any separate oxide phase unlike in samples of Fe sintered at 700°C that contain ultrafine oxide grains. This was explained on the basis of role played by acrawax, a lubricant, admixed to increase the green density. Based on the sintered densities of both SPS and conventional sintered compacts, residual oxide content of the compacts sintered at different temperature and experimentally observed shrinkage rate a phenomenological model has been proposed for the possible sequence of processes occurring during sintering of these nanopowders. The major findings of this work are summarized in chapter 6 and chapter 7 details the scope for the future work.

Ce travail de thèse a pour objectif la caractérisation des propriétés physico-chimiques descéramiques de composition (1-x) BaTi0.8Zr0.2O3-x Ba0.7Ca0.3TiO3 préparées par frittage conventionnelet frittage flash (SPS). Les études structurales réalisées au voisinage du point triple (x≈ 0.32) à l’aidede la diffraction des RX de haute résolution (synchrotron) sur poudre ont introduit des modificationsmajeures sur le diagramme de phase température-composition déjà proposé. La réponseélectromécanique géante mesurée est alors corrélée à la dégénérescence du profil de l’énergie libreinduite par les instabilités structurales. De plus, la flexibilité de la polarisation sous contraintesthermique et électrique est couplée à un assouplissement de la maille cristalline. Ces deuxcaractéristiques contribuent ensemble à une réponse électromécanique colossale via une forteactivité des murs de domaine. La dégradation des propriétés diélectriques, ferroélectriques etpiézoélectriques pour les céramiques BCTZ (x=0.32 et 0.5) élaborées par frittage flash estessentiellement attribuée aux fluctuations importantes de composition et à la stabilisation de laconfiguration des murs de domaines avec la diminution de la taille des grains. / The aim of this work is to make a full characterization of the structural, microstructural, dielectric,ferroelectric and piezoelectric properties of the perovskite-structured oxides (1-x) BaTi0.8Zr0.2O3-xBa0.7Ca0.3TiO3 prepared by a conventional solid-state reaction method (conventional sintering) andSPS fabrication technique. Using high-resolution synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction, the structuralinvestigations carried out close to the triple point (x≈ 0.32) have introduced significant corrections tothe previously published composition-temperature phase diagram. The colossal electromechanicalresponse was then correlated to a strongly degenerate free energy landscape caused by structuralinstabilities. Furthermore, the coupling between the high polarization flexibility under electric andthermal stresses and the ‘lattice softening’ gives rise to a giant electromechanical response due tohigh domain wall activities. The decrease of the dielectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric propertiesof BCTZ ceramics (x=0.32 and 0.5) processed by SPS was essentially attributed to the largecompositional fluctuations and stable domain wall configurations as the grain size decreased.

L’invecchiamento della popolazione in atto, l’entrata in massa della donna nel mercato del lavoro, verificata negli ultimi anni, l’aumento delle aspettative di vita e l’allungamento dell’età pensionabile con la Riforma Fornero-Monti, contribuiscono al mutamento della morfologia della famiglia, dei contesti lavorativi e della società nel complesso rendendo palese l’esigenza di comprendere meglio le dinamiche che questi cambiamenti comportano. Nonostante l’invecchiamento delle lavoratrici rappresenti un cambiamento importante, non ci sono ancora molti studi che hanno analizzato questo fenomeno. Il presente studio ha avuto l’obiettivo di comprendere e far luce sulle caratteristiche delle lavoratrici over 50, in particolar modo conoscere le peculiarità delle loro relazioni familiari/extra-lavorative e lavorative attraverso il concetto sociologico di Capitale sociale ritenuto di estrema importanza per comprendere il potenziale delle lavoratrici. La ricerca ha coinvolto, attraverso la compilazione di un questionario, 4962 lavoratrici tra i 50 e i 69 anni di 18 aziende associate a Valore D, su tutto il territorio italiano. Dallo studio emerge che le lavoratrici hanno ancora un buon livello di potenziale e che il CSF e CSL possono rivestire un ruolo importante come risorsa nella vita delle donne in questa fase di vita, ma anche per le aziende e la società stessa. / The aging of the population, the mass entry of women into the labor market, verified in recent years, the increase in life expectancy and the lengthening of the retirement age with the Fornero-Monti Reform, contributed to the change of the morphology of the family, of working contexts and of society as a whole, making clear the need to better understand the dynamics that these changes entail. Although the aging of female workers represents an important change, this phenomenon has not been analyzed yet. The present study aims to understand and shed light on the characteristics of of workers over 50, especially to know the peculiarities of their family / extra-work and work relationships through the sociological concept of Social Capital considered of extreme importance to understand the potential of female workers. The research involved 4962 workers between 50 and 69 years of 18 companies associated with Valore D, throughout Italy, who completed a questionnaire. The study shows that female workers still have a good level of potential and that the CSF and CSL can play an important important role as a resource for women in this phase of their life, but also for companies and society itself.

Questa tesi ha come scopo quello di investigare la relazione tra etnicità, modalità di commissione del crimine e struttura relazionale di differenti reti etniche coinvolte nella tratta per sfruttamento sessuale. E’ realizzata un’analisi di due reti criminali dell’Africa occidentale e di due dei Balcani mediante l’applicazione di due metodi: la crime script analysis e l’analisi di rete. I risultati ottenuti sono stati uniti per capire come le relazioni tra gli individui sono distribuite all’interno della cornice criminale. Da ultimo, i casi studio sono stati comparati per verificare se esiste una relazione tra etnicità e tratta per sfruttamento sessuale, anche indipendentemente dall’ambito di sfruttamento. I risultati mostrano che l’etnicità ha un impatto sulla tratta per sfruttamento sessuale. In particolare, influenza il modus operandi e le caratteristiche socio-biografiche degli attori che operano nelle reti impegnate nello stesso ambito di sfruttamento. Se sono considerati differenti ambiti di sfruttamento, messi in atto sia dallo stesso che da differenti gruppi etnici, l’etnicità non sembra influenzare né le modalità di commissione del crimine né le caratteristiche dei soggetti. Infatti, anche l’ambito di sfruttamento indoor/outdoor sembra essere rilevante. Al contrario, la struttura relazionale e la relazione tra questa e le modalità di commissione del crimine non sembrano essere influenzate dall’etnicità. / This thesis aims at investigating the relationship among ethnicity, modalities of crime commission and relational structure of different ethnic networks involved in sex trafficking. A case study analysis of two West African and two Balkan networks is carried out by the adoption of two methods: crime script analysis and social network analysis. A merger of the results obtained in these analyses is performed in order to understand how relationships among individuals are distributed within the criminal framework. Finally, the case studies are compared to verify whether a relationship exists between ethnicity and sex trafficking, also apart from the field of exploitation. The results show that ethnicity has an impact on sex trafficking. In particular, it influences modi operandi and the socio-biographical characteristics of the members of the networks operating in the same field of exploitation. If different fields of exploitation are considered, both carried out by same or different ethnic groups, ethnicity appears to affect neither the modalities of crime commission nor the features of the people. Indeed, also the outdoor/indoor exploitation context seems to be relevant. Conversely, the relational structure and the relation between the latter and the modalities of crime commission do not seem to be affected by ethnicity.