It’s not About the Money: New evidence on U.S. reconstruction aid in Italy, 1947-1968

This paper studies the economic impact of foreign aid on Italian firms. In particular, I study the different effects of three main forms of aid: The Export-Import Bank loans, the Marshall Plan ERP ‘dollars’ loans, and the Marshall Plan ERP ‘lire’ loans. In all programs, the U.S. sent technologically advanced machinery to allow a modernisation of the technology of Italian firms, but the conditions of such loans differed. This paper tests how crucial such different features have been for the effectiveness of firm reconstruction aid. By creating a new data set on recipient firms and linking it to a large comprehensive firm-level dataset (Imita.db), I compare the effects on the performance of firms. I find that the Export-Import Bank loan raised the long-run profitability of firms, but that firms who received more flexible forms of Marshall Plan aid (‘ERP-lire’) raised their performance much more than Export- Import Bank recipients. Recipients who only received funds provided with long delays (‘ERP-dollars’) did not benefit from them. This evidence suggests that rather than receiving foreign aid per se, the most crucial features of reconstruction aid in Italy have been obtaining the requested goods on time and adjusting requests to receive the most needed productive goods

CloudSim 7G: An Integrated Toolkit for Modeling and Simulation of Future Generation Cloud Computing Environments

Background: Cloud Computing has established itself as an efficient and cost-effective paradigm for the execution of web-based applications, and scientific workloads, that need elasticity and on-demand scalability capabilities. However, the evaluation of novel resource provisioning and management techniques is a major challenge due to the complexity of large-scale data centers. Therefore, Cloud simulators are an essential tool for academic and industrial researchers, to investigate the effectiveness of novel algorithms and mechanisms in large-scale scenarios. Aim: This paper proposes CloudSim 7G, the seventh generation of CloudSim, which features a re-engineered and generalized internal architecture to facilitate the integration of multiple CloudSim extensions within the same simulated environment. Methods: As part of the new design, we introduced a set of standardized interfaces to abstract common functionalities and carried out extensive refactoring and refinement of the codebase. Results: The result is a substantial reduction in lines of code with no loss in functionality, significant improvements in run-time performance and memory efficiency (up to 25∖% less heap memory allocated), as well as increased flexibility, ease-of-use, and extensibility of the framework. Conclusion: These improvements benefit not only CloudSim developers but also researchers and practitioners using the framework for modeling and simulating next-generation Cloud Computing environments

Un’invariante dell’esperienza unitaria: il partito della Corona

Sommario: 1. La camarilla. – 2. Tre chiavi di lettura: 2.1 Le persistenze di antico regime; 2.2 Lo pseudoparlamentarismo dell’Italia statutaria; 2.3 La (mancata) razionalizzazione della forma di governo. – 3. Conseguenze, proiezioni e prospettive

Genetic Etiology Influences the Low-Frequency Components of Globus Pallidus Internus Electrophysiology in Dystonia

Background Elevated low-frequency activity (4–12 Hz) within the globus pallidus internus (GPi) has been consistently associated with dystonia. However, the impacts of the genetic etiology of dystonia on low-frequency GPi activity remain unclear; yet it holds importance for adaptive deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment. Methods We compared the properties of GPi electrophysiology acquired from 70 microelectrode recordings (MER) trajectories of DYT-GNAL, DYT-KMT2B, DYT-SGCE, DYT-THAP1, DYT-TOR1A, DYT-VPS16, and idiopathic dystonia (iDYT) patients who underwent GPi-DBS surgery across standard frequency bands. Results DYT-SGCE patients exhibited significantly lower alpha band activity (2.97%) compared to iDYT (4.44%, p = 0.006) and DYT-THAP1 (4.51%, p = 0.011). Additionally, theta band power was also significantly reduced in DYT-SGCE (4.42%) compared to iDYT and DYT-THAP1 (7.91% and 7.00%, p < 0.05). Instead, the genetic etiology of dystonia did not affect the spatial characteristics of GPi electrophysiology along MER trajectories. Conclusion Considering the genetic etiology of dystonia in closed-loop DBS treatments and utilizing theta and alpha activity for GPi stimulation may optimize clinical outcomes. MER-based DBS lead placement can proceed independently of the underlying genetic cause

Extended cognitive load induces fast neural responses leading to commission errors

: Extended performance of cognitively demanding tasks induces cognitive fatigue manifested with an overall deterioration of behavioral performance. In particular, long practice with tasks requiring impulse control is typically followed by a decrease in self-control efficiency, leading to performance instability. Here, we show that this is due to changes in activation modalities of key task-related areas occurring if these areas previously underwent intensive use. We investigated in 25 healthy adults the effects of extended practice with high cognitive demand (HCD) tasks on a Go-No Go task and the underlying electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. We compared these effects with those induced by practice with similar, but low cognitive demand (LCD) tasks. HCD tasks were followed by an increase in response inhibition failures. These were correlated with the appearance of a distinct neural signature on fast response trials, characterized by lower levels of beta ([13-30] Hz) EEG activity in the pre-stimulus period, and by a lack of EEG markers of pre-response processing in frontal areas. Moreover, HCD tasks were followed by a decrease in N200 during correct withholds while LCD tasks were followed instead by a lesser fraction of hits and a decrease in P300, suggesting a decrease in engagement. Overall, these results show that exertion of cognitive control determines the appearance of two distinct modalities of response with different processing speeds, associated with distinct underlying neural activity.Significance statement Extended cognitive load leads to alterations in behavior, but the underlying alterations in cortical activity are far from being understood. When we compared the performance in a Go/NoGo test before and after a battery of tasks requiring high cognitive control, we found an increase in commission errors associated with an increase in fast automatic responses. EEG signals of these responses displayed a lack of cortical markers of pre-response processing. Tasks requiring only low cognitive control were followed instead by an increase in miss errors, likely related to a decrease in engagement. Extended cognitive load leads then to the appearance of two distinct response modalities, driven by distinct neural activities

Development of an autonomous smart trap for precision monitoring of hematophagous flies on cattle

Hematophagous flies pose a significant threat to livestock health and productivity. Traditional pest control methods, which heavily rely on chemical insecticides, present risks such as resistance development and environmental harm. This study presents a novel smart trap for real-time monitoring and identification of Tabanidae, Hippoboscidae (i.e., Hippobosca equina L.), and Muscidae (i.e., Stomoxys calcitrans (L.)) on cattle. The system includes a microcontroller for managing various sensors (light, temperature, humidity, and gas) and power management. The control unit is complemented by a microprocessor responsible for managing and processing images from a camera. The system integrates high-resolution imaging, a convolutional neural network (CNN) for species recognition, and environmental sensors to monitor factors affecting insect behavior. On the test set, the CNN achieved an overall precision of 0.96 and recall of 0.98 in detecting instances, with an overall classification accuracy of 0.96. Equipped, also, by lithium-ion battery and by communication module, the trap can operate autonomously and transmit data, becoming suitable for large-scale deployments. Overall, the tool developed here offers a practical and cheap solution for sustainable and accurate pest monitoring of hematophagous flies attacking cattle in pasture and feedlot