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Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the relationship between employee training and bank risk to verify whether and to what extent an increase in employee training, as a soft component of total quality management (TQM), affects bank risk. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopts a panel regression, based on a unique dataset of a sample of Italian banks over the period 2011–2018, to test whether employee training affects bank risk, measured alternatively in terms of Z-score, a proxy of bank stability and non-performing loans (NPLs)/gross loans ratio as a proxy of credit risk. Findings: Research findings reveal that increasing employee training leads to growing bank stability. In contrast, credit risk is not affected by employee training. However, by investigating training heterogeneity, this study found that the increase in the number of managerial training hours, as a proxy for soft skills training, negatively impacts credit risk. Therefore, an increase in soft skills leads to a reduction in bank credit risk. Research limitations/implications: This study provides empirical evidence in support of the relationship between employee training and bank risk, which seems novel in the literature. From a managerial point of view, this study highlights the need for banks to pay attention to the skills, particularly soft skills, that banks' employees must possess to effectively manage bank risk and, more specifically, the core bank risk. Originality/value: Empirical evidence on the relationship between employee training, soft/hard skills and bank risk appears limited if not absent. Therefore, the findings provide insights for a more nuanced interpretation of variables that affect bank risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In service, railway tracks must withstand the transverse and longitudinal forces that are caused by running vehicles and thermal loads. The mechanical design that adopts any of the track models available in the technical literature requires that the strength of the track is fully characterised. In this paper, the results of an experimental research activity on the sleeper--ballast resistance along the lateral and the longitudinal directions are reported and discussed. In particular, the work is aimed at identifying the strength contributions offered by the base, the ballast between the sleepers, and the ballast shoulder to the global resistance of the track in the horizontal plane. These quantities were experimentally determined by means of an ad hoc system designed by the authors. Field tests were carried out on a series of track sections that were built to simulate scenarios in which the ballast was removed from the crib and/or the shoulder. The results of this study indicate that the strength percent contributions from the crib, the sleeper base, and the shoulder are, respectively, equal to about 50%, 25%, and 25% in the lateral direction, and 60%, 30%, and 10% in the longitudinal direction. Moreover, the comparison of the acquired data with literature results reveals that a detailed knowledge about the testing conditions and the activated ballast failure mechanisms is needed in order to correctly use the test data for the design purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass manufacturing is a high-volume process, during which large substance quantities are transformed into commercial products, and significant amounts of non-renewable resources and energy (i.e., thermal fuels and electrical power) are consumed. The main purpose of this study is to give a critical explanation of the performance of the Italian container glass industry from the perspective of cullet being recycled, to outline the opportunities for transition towards circular business models that stimulate innovation in new sectors based on reverse-cycle activities for recycling. In 2015, disparate performances have been achieved as regards the container glass recycling rate in northern, central, and southern Italy, accounting for around 73%, 64%, and 55%, respectively. In fact, only northern Italy is in line with European targets, as by 2025 it will only need to increase its current performance by two percentage points, unlike central and southern Italy that will have to increase performance by, respectively, 11% and 20%. This shows a need to improve the efficiency of municipal waste collection systems in central and southern Italy, where undifferentiated waste still holds appreciable amounts of glass. Consequently, we propose several improvement channels, from the revision of waste legislation to the re-engineering of waste management supply chains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this work is to carry out a review of the main technical-economic and environmental implications associated with the production of photovoltaic (PV) energy, one of the renewable sources for the production of electricity which currently presents the highest rate of growth worldwide--particularly in Europe and in Italy. The review provides a detailed exploration of the most important initiatives taken at the national level for the end-of-life management of the modules, and highlights issues associated with the disposal and/or recycling of obsolete photovoltaic panels in terms of techno-economic and socio-environmental sustainability. The paper highlights the main critical elements and potential opportunities deriving from the technological, managerial, and organizational options available to enhance recovery and recycling rates of PV panels in Italy. Results point out the importance of a circular economy perspective, through the involvement and awareness of the actors in the process, in order to render an even greener photovoltaic energy life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dimensioning of the locking device of a switch is made essentially as a function of the applied loads during the switch rails movement or considering a false route. The phenomena related to the vibrations induced by the track are therefore normally not taken into account. Such vibrations are particularly accentuated by the ballast bed deconsolidation in the sleeper panel supporting the locking device. Unfortunately, there is no specific technical reference in order to control these aspects, even though the most frequent cause of locking device components failures is relied to the vertical oscillations induced by the trains, rather than to the effort to commute the switch rails. In this study, the results of a field investigation carried out at two levels of ballast tamping are reported and discussed. It is found that the ballast compaction plays a fundamental role for the component to be prone to the early attainment of critical mechanical conditions. Procedures for the monitoring of the stability and efficiency of the ballast bed to ensure the required reliability of the locking device are also envisaged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper the design and construction choices of a test field for the ballast lateral resistance measurement, in order to produce data useful for the development of a numerical model able to simulate the service critical conditions of a continuous welded rail track, are described. Some construction details described herein allow to better understand the methodological approach followed in the design of experiments, the tests management philosophy as well as of the accuracy achieved in their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several studies have been carried out until now by various Research Agencies and Railway Administrations to quantify the effects of the track-bed geometrical characteristics on the transverse strength of the track. Unfortunately, not all the possible scenarios in terms of track components, track-bed cross profile, operating conditions etc. have been investigated and not all the relevant variables have been directly measured. Therefore data available from the literature have different degrees of reliability. With the aim of enlarging the knowledge on the track stability and covering much of the possible relevant scenarios, an experimental research program has been developed in the framework of a cooperation between RFI, Italcertifer and DII. In order to perform the investigation under quite general conditions and to reduce the experimentation costs, n. 28 significant scenarios have been identified and reproduced on as many independent track segments. By applying on each track segment a transversal load, the strength of the ballast-sleeper interface has been determined. The results relative to the first four scenarios are presented in terms of applied load vs. lateral track displacement diagrams and in more synthetic numerical tables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the application of a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) model to simulate the Marmore waterfall (Italy), which is part of the complex hydraulic system Nera Velino rivers, Piediluco lake. The domain reconstruction has been performed through a non-conventional photogrammetry topographic surveying. The simulations have been performed employing a CFD model that solves the Navier?Stokes equations with the Large Eddy Simulations turbulence closure scheme and the Volume of Fluid multiphase method to handle the free-surface flow. A good agreement is achieved between the CFD model and the real waterfall flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of new technologies has created interesting and unexpected possibilities in e-health, and digital platforms have become widespread, connecting users, experts, and practitioners of the health world. This triggered our investigation into the relationship between the engagement platforms used by 293 doctors with various specializations, their satisfaction, and the dimensions of social sustainability in the healthcare sector. The research focused on professional interaction and its sphere of action in engagement platforms, defined as virtual contact points for exchanging information, thus increasing the co-creation of value between physicians and patients. In order to verify our hypothesis, a health digital platform called paginemediche.it was used, and the two dimensions of engagement and sustainability were considered, examining their causal relationship and evaluating their effects on physician loyalty in terms of the re-use of the digital platform by doctors. Our results, using a multiple linear regression analysis, showed that the social sustainability of the digital health platform was directly influenced by online engagement, generating a positive effect on physician loyalty. In particular, the human dimension of social sustainability proved to be decisive for the re-use of the platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reproduces a document from the Instituto de Medicina del Trabajo [Institute of Occupational Medicine], created on July 16, 1973 in the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad de Buenos Aires. The document is a transcription of the interventions of Mario Testa, Alberto Ozores Soler and Ricardo Saiegh in the roundtable discussion "Health in factories" carried out on August 1 of the same year. The preceding lines, written by Mario Testa, puts into context that particular historical moment and the significance of the project, which sought to reconsider the relationship between the universities and research, between the teaching of medicine and the role of physicians in society, issues still relevant today. This document was recovered from the Mario Testa fund, in the Center for Documentation and Research Pensar en Salud (CEDOPS) of the Institute of Collective Health in the Universidad Nacional de Lanús.