Italian Diaspora and Foreign Direct Investment: A Cliometric Perspective

Recent economic literature highlights that migrant networks help to overcome the informal barriers that exist in the international markets and boost international investment. Empirical studies on different countries confirm this prediction. This paper estimates (OLS-IV) an econometric model to study the impact of both emigration and immigration on Italy’s bilateral foreign direct investment (FDI). The main result is that only the Italian diaspora has a significant positive effect on Italy’s both inward and outward FDI. A theoretical framework, a profile of the diaspora and of immigration in Italy and some exemplary entrepreneurial histories help to interpret the econometric evidence.International Investments, Migrant Networks, Entrepreneurial Histories

Transnational social capital and FDI. Evidence from Italian associations worldwide

Emigrant associations abroad are structured nodes of social networks; they are manifestations of a transnational social capital. Italian associations are numerous, spread across several countries, in some cases they exist since the end of the nineteenth century, and may count on high numbers of members. Also, they are robustly tied to the home country. This paper assesses the effects of Italian associations abroad on the bilateral FDI between Italy and the countries of settlement of Italian diaspora. The main results are that these effects are positive and strongly significant, especially for the inward FDI and relatively to the countries with the oldest associations.international migration; FDI; Italy

Transnational social capital and FDI.Evidence from Italian associations worldwide

Emigrant associations abroad are structured nodes of social networks; they are manifestations of a transnational social capital. Italian associations are numerous, spread across several countries, in some cases they exist since the end of the nineteenth century, and may count on high numbers of members. Also, they are robustly tied to the home country. This paper assesses the effects of Italian associations abroad on the bilateral FDI between Italy and the countries of settlement of Italian diaspora. The main results are that these effects are positive and strongly significant, especially for the inward FDI and relatively to the countries with the oldest associationsinternational migration, FDI, Italy

Occurrence and toxicity of Microcystis aeruginosa (Cyanobacteria) in the Paraná River, downstream of the Yacyretá dam (Argentina)

Cyanobacteria constitute the main toxin producers in inland water ecosystems and have extensive global distribution. The presence of hepatotoxins in aquatic environments is hazardous to human and animal health; even though the presence and identification of hepatotoxic microcystins in rivers and reservoirs of the world have been confirmed by several studies in the last few years. Herein, we studied the abundance and toxicity of Microcystis aeruginosa in the Argentine section of the Paraná River at the beginning of the Middle Paraná (Corrientes Hydrometer), near Corrientes city (27º28´ S - 58º51´ W) and approximately 220 km downstream of the Yacyretá dam (High Paraná). The Paraná River basin, with a drainage area of 3.1 x 106 km2 and 3 965 km in length, is the second largest catchment of South America, after that of the Amazon. The Paraná River is the main source of drinking water supply for the Northeastern Argentine region. Phytoplankton samples were collected and environmental variables were measured in a monthly basis (exceptionally fortnightly), from March 2004 to June 2008. Fifty-eight samples were analyzed for phytoplankton density and biomass. Five samples were used for toxicity testing; the latter were obtained during the cyanobacteria blooms from 2005 to 2008. Phytoplankton counts were performed with an inverted microscope, and biomass was expressed as biovolume. Bioassays with mice and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis were performed to evaluate the presence of cyanotoxins. Phytoplankton mainly consisted of Cryptophyta, Chlorophyta and Bacillariophyta. Microcystis aeruginosa was identified during the warmer months each year (November to March). Density varied between 189 and 25 027 cells/mL (1-10 colonies/mL) and biomass from 0.34 to 44 mm3/L. Taking into account the number of cells, the highest abundance occurred in April 2004 (25 027 cells/mL), coinciding with the largest biovolume (44 mm3/L). All mice subjected to intraperitoneal injections with samples obtained during bloom episodes showed positive results for the presence of hepatotoxins. Three microcystins variants: LR, RR and [D-Leu1] Mcyst-LR were detected by analysis with semi-preparative high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector system (HPLC-PDA). This constitutes the first report of microcystins recorded during M. aeruginosa blooms in the Argentine stretch of the Paraná River at the beginning of the Middle Paraná (Corrientes Hydrometer), approximately 220 km downstream of the Yacyretá dam (High Paraná).Fil: Forastier, Marina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Zalocar, Yolanda. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Andrinolo, Dario. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas; ArgentinaFil: Domitrovic, Hugo Alberto. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Eficacia de la Educación para la Salud en el Paciente Hipertenso en Atención Primaria y el Papel del Profesional de Enfermería

Introducción y Marco Conceptual: Las enfermedades no transmisibles son un problema actual y de gran importancia para la salud mundial. En concreto, la hipertensión arterial es un problema con grandes índices de morbimortalidad tanto en nuestro país como en el resto. La obesidad, el sedentarismo entre otros hábitos malsanos están generando problemas que necesitan modelos de atención psicosocial donde la Educación para la Salud puede servir como herramienta útil para afrontarlos. Las consulta de Atención Primaria son un escenario perfecto para abordar en primera instancia esta problemática donde desarrollar actividades de promoción y educación para empoderar a los usuarios haciéndoles responsables de su propia salud. Objetivos: Los objetivos específicos de esta revisión bibliografía son por consiguiente determinar el papel que desempeñan los profesionales de enfermería en las consultas de nuestro país en materia de educación en salud y valorar la efectividad de dichas intervenciones. Material y Métodos: Se realizó un búsqueda de material científico que respondiera a los objetivos de la revisión en diferente bases de datos específicas, utilizando términos en relación y filtrando con los diferentes criterios de inclusión establecidos. Se encontraron un total de 527 artículos originales de los cuales se utilizaron un total de 19 para responder a los objetivos. Resultados y discusión: Las intervenciones educativas realizadas en consulta de AP, desarrollan papeles educativos desde una perspectiva psicosocial, favoreciendo la comunicación grupal y el desarrollo de los participantes que los capacita para tomar el control de su salud. Los programas educativos son una herramienta útil para los equipos de AP que permiten desarrollar la promoción y prevención de las comunidades, fomentando cultura de salud e interés por cuidarla. Conclusiones: Es necesario fomentar la aplicación de intervenciones educativas en las consultas de AP, ya que se ha demostrado que son intervenciones realmente interesantes que abogan por la emancipación y empoderamiento de los individuos y comunidades de los sistemas de saludGrado en Enfermerí

A hierarchical Bayesian model for inference of copy number variants and their association to gene expression

A number of statistical models have been successfully developed for the analysis of high-throughput data from a single source, but few methods are available for integrating data from different sources. Here we focus on integrating gene expression levels with comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) array measurements collected on the same subjects. We specify a measurement error model that relates the gene expression levels to latent copy number states which, in turn, are related to the observed surrogate CGH measurements via a hidden Markov model. We employ selection priors that exploit the dependencies across adjacent copy number states and investigate MCMC stochastic search techniques for posterior inference. Our approach results in a unified modeling framework for simultaneously inferring copy number variants (CNV) and identifying their significant associations with mRNA transcripts abundance. We show performance on simulated data and illustrate an application to data from a genomic study on human cancer cell lines.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/13-AOAS705 the Annals of Applied Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aoas/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

La desigualdad de Penrose luminosa y la versión para capas delgadas en Minkowski

[ES]El objetivo de esta tesis doctoral es estudiar la desigualdad de Penrose en el caso luminoso, es decir, aquellos casos en que la superficie atrapada genera un cono de luz pasado que se extiende de manera regular hasta infinito pasado luminoso. La desigualdad de Penrose en este caso involucra la demonimada masa de Bondi del espacio-tiempo. Este contexto tiene interés, además de por ser el más sencillo compatible con un proceso de colapso realista, porque incluye como caso particular la construcción originalmente propuesta por Penrose y que consiste en una capa delgada de materia que se propaga a la velocidad de la luz en el espacio-tiempo de Minkowski. En este caso la desigualdad de Penrose se convierte en una desigualdad geométrica para superficies espaciales convexas (más precisamente "espacio-temporalmente convexas") en el espacio-tiempo de Minkowski. Esta situación particular, pero de especial interés, es objeto de estudio pormenorizado en esta tesis doctoral. La desigualdad de Penrose en ese caso se denomina "desigualdad de Penrose para capas"

Radiocarbon reservoir ages and hardwater effect for the northeastern coastal waters of Argentina.

Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates were obtained for 18 mollusk shells collected alive along the Buenos Aires province coast, Argentina, over the period AD 1914–1935. Reservoir ages were estimated for all samples on the basis of the tree-ring calibration curve for the Southern Hemisphere (SHCal04, McCormac et al. 2004) and the marine ΔR values calculated as the difference between the conventional 14C age and the age deduced from the marine, mixedlayer model calculation (Marine04, Hughen et al. 2004). For most coastal locations, a great ΔR scatter was observed, ranging from 191 to 2482 yr, which is explained by the input of varying content of dissolved carbonate by rivers and groundwater (“hardwater effect”) and indicates a serious limitation for shell-based 14C chronologies. Within the interior of Bahía Blanca estuary, ΔR values ranged from –40 to 50 ± 46 as a consequence of the local geological particularities of the environment. This suggests that, with some restrictions, the marine calibration curve with standard parameters (ΔR = 0) could be used at this location.Fil: Gomez, Eduardo Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía; ArgentinaFil: Borel, Claudia Marcela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Aguirre, Marina Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Martinez, Daniel Emilio. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas. Instituto de Geología de Costas y del Cuaternario; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin