345 research outputs found

    Propiedades sistemáticas de las orientaciones de galaxias en cúmulos lineales

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    From an analysis of the data of Adams et al. (1980), it is found that position angles of galaxies in linear cluster are nos-randomly distributed. Ellipticals are preferentially oriented along the cluster axis, S0 tend to be oriented perpendicular, while the distribution of position angles of spirals shows two maxima, one coincident with the position angle of the cluster and other perpendicular to it. These effects are stronger for the densest regions of the cluste and for the brightest galaxies.Asociación Argentina de Astronomí

    The Optimal Design of a Market

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    We study the optimal design of the rules of trade in a two-period market given that agents arrive at different times and may only trade with agents present contemporaneously. First period agents face a fixed cot of trading across periods, and their decisions of whether or not to trade in the second period result in externalities relative to the agents arriving in the second period. Given the non-convexities associated with the fixed cost, competitve trading rules can result in inefficienceis in such a market and, in fact, anonymity must be sacrificed to achieve efficiency. Efficient trading rules have a market maker (i.e., an agent who is given some market power and the right to trade across periods) who faces some competition within period trading, but not across periods. The efficient choice of who should be market maker can be made by auctionaing rights to this position. If there is uncertainty across periods, then efficient mechanisms may involve multiple market makers, and the optimal number of market makers depends on the cost of trading, level of risk aversion, and presence of scymmetric information.

    Contracting for the unknown and the logic of innovation

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    This paper discusses the components of contracts adequatefor governing innovation, and their microfoundations in the logic of innovative decision processes. Drawing on models of discovery and design processes, distinctive logical features of innovative decision making are specified and connected to features of contracts that can sustain innovation processes and do not fail under radical uncertainty. It is argued that if new knowledge is to be generated under uncertainty and risk, 'relational contracts', as usually intended, are not enough and a more robust type of contracting is needed and it is actually often used: formal constitutional contracts that associate resources, leave their uses rationally unspecified, but exhaustively specify the assignment of residual decision rights and other property rights, and the decision rules to be followed in governance. The argument is supported by an analysis of a large international database on the governance of multi-party projects in discovery-intensive and design-intensive industries

    Prato: The Social Construction of an Industrial City Facing Processes of Cultural Hybridization

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    This chapter deals with a widely studied case, that is, Prato, a middle-sized city with rooted industrial traditions, in the Centre of Italy. Prato is a textile industrial district embedded in the so-called Third Italy—an area characterized by the presence of small firms spread throughout the territory, linked together in supply and subcontracting relationships—which, in the last twenty years, has undergone a profound transformation as a consequence of the crisis of textile and immigration, leading to the formation of a large Chinese community. The related changes brought with them problems of social cohesion and sustainable development. The authors address these issues by analyzing both academic and public discourses on Prato. Their basic idea is that common stereotypes act as drivers of a public discourse that prevents the city to re-negotiate its identity. The analysis concludes that different forms of hybridization—particularly cultural hybridization—are occurring, which would need further investigations

    Genome-wide expression profiling and functional characterization of SCA28 lymphoblastoid cell lines reveal impairment in cell growth and activation of apoptotic pathways

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    BACKGROUND: SCA28 is an autosomal dominant ataxia associated with AFG3L2 gene mutations. We performed a whole genome expression profiling using lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) from four SCA28 patients and six unrelated healthy controls matched for sex and age. METHODS: Gene expression was evaluated with the Affymetrix GeneChip Human Genome U133A 2.0 Arrays and data were validated by real-time PCR. RESULTS: We found 66 genes whose expression was statistically different in SCA28 LCLs, 35 of which were up-regulated and 31 down-regulated. The differentially expressed genes were clustered in five functional categories: (1) regulation of cell proliferation; (2) regulation of programmed cell death; (3) response to oxidative stress; (4) cell adhesion, and (5) chemical homeostasis. To validate these data, we performed functional experiments that proved an impaired SCA28 LCLs growth compared to controls (p\u2009<\u20090.005), an increased number of cells in the G0/G1 phase (p\u2009<\u20090.001), and an increased mortality because of apoptosis (p\u2009<\u20090.05). We also showed that respiratory chain activity and reactive oxygen species levels was not altered, although lipid peroxidation in SCA28 LCLs was increased in basal conditions (p\u2009<\u20090.05). We did not detect mitochondrial DNA large deletions. An increase of TFAM, a crucial protein for mtDNA maintenance, and of DRP1, a key regulator of mitochondrial dynamic mechanism, suggested an alteration of fission/fusion pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Whole genome expression profiling, performed on SCA28 LCLs, allowed us to identify five altered functional categories that characterize the SCA28 LCLs phenotype, the first reported in human cells to our knowledge. \ua9 2013 Mancini et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
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