Legal determinants of external finance revisited : the inverse relationship between investor protection and societal well-being

This paper investigates relationships between corporate governance traditions and quality of life as measured by a number of widely reported indicators. It provides an empirical analysis of indicators of societal health in developed economies using a classification based on legal traditions. Arguably the most widely cited work in the corporate governance literature has been the collection of papers by La Porta et al. which has shown, inter alia, statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for investor protection. We show statistically significant relationships between legal traditions and various proxies for societal health. Our comparative evidence suggests that the interests of investors may not be congruent with the interests of wider society, and that the criteria for judging the effectiveness of approaches to corporate governance should not be restricted to financial metrics

Renal involvement in mushroom poisoning: The case of Orellanus syndrome

none8Although mushroom poisoning is a rare cause of acute renal injury, in some cases it may lead to the development of a severe and irreversible renal failure. Orellanus syndrome is the most important example of organic renal damage related to mushroom consumption. It is caused by the ingestion of orellanine, the main toxin of different types of Cortinarius mushrooms (Cortinarius speciosissimus, C. orellanus, C. orellanoides, etc.), and it is characterized by progressive clinical phases with a predominant kidney involvement, finally requiring renal replacement therapy in about 10% of cases. Renal damage is often late and associated with a histological picture of interstitial nephritis. Diagnosis is essentially clinical and no specific therapy has been shown to be effective in preventing and treating renal damage. Here, we describe the case of a patient with mixed wild mushroom poisoning, presenting the typical clinical signs and course of the Orellanus syndrome. This case offers us the opportunity to review the main clinical features of this severe and little-known intoxication.openEsposito, P; La Porta, E; Calatroni, M; Bianzina, S; Libetta, C; Gregorini, M; Rampino, T; Dal Canton, AEsposito, P; La Porta, E; Calatroni, M; Bianzina, S; Libetta, Carmelo; Gregorini, Marilena; Rampino, Teresa; DAL CANTON, Antoni

Optimized quantum nondemolition measurement of a field quadrature

We suggest an interferometric scheme assisted by squeezing and linear feedback to realize the whole class of field-quadrature quantum nondemolition measurements, from Von Neumann projective measurement to fully non-destructive non-informative one. In our setup, the signal under investigation is mixed with a squeezed probe in an interferometer and, at the output, one of the two modes is revealed through homodyne detection. The second beam is then amplitude-modulated according to the outcome of the measurement, and finally squeezed according to the transmittivity of the interferometer. Using strongly squeezed or anti-squeezed probes respectively, one achieves either a projective measurement, i.e. homodyne statistics arbitrarily close to the intrinsic quadrature distribution of the signal, and conditional outputs approaching the corresponding eigenstates, or fully non-destructive one, characterized by an almost uniform homodyne statistics, and by an output state arbitrarily close to the input signal. By varying the squeezing between these two extremes, or simply by tuning the internal phase-shift of the interferometer, the whole set of intermediate cases can also be obtained. In particular, an optimal quantum nondemolition measurement of quadrature can be achieved, which minimizes the information gain versus state disturbance trade-off

Relative dispersion in fully developed turbulence: The Richardson's Law and Intermittency Corrections

Relative dispersion in fully developed turbulence is investigated by means of direct numerical simulations. Lagrangian statistics is found to be compatible with Richardson description although small systematic deviations are found. The value of the Richardson constant is estimated as $C_2 \simeq 0.55$, in a close agreement with recent experimental findings [S. Ott and J. Mann J. Fluid Mech. {\bf 422}, 207 (2000)]. By means of exit-time statistics it is shown that the deviations from Richardson's law are a consequence of Eulerian intermittency. The measured Lagrangian scaling exponents require a set of Eulerian structure function exponents $\zeta_{p}$ which are remarkably close to standard ones known for fully developed turbulence

Quantum tomography of mesoscopic superpositions of radiation states

We show the feasibility of a tomographic reconstruction of Schr\"{o}dinger cat states generated according to the scheme proposed by S. Song, C.M. Caves and B. Yurke [Phys. Rev. A 41, 5261 (1990)]. We present a technique that tolerates realistic values for quantum efficiency at photodetectors. The measurement can be achieved by a standard experimental setup.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.; 4 pages including 6 ps figure

Stakeholders’ attitudes about the transplantations of the mediterranean seagrass posidonia oceanica as a habitat restoration measure after anthropogenic impacts: A q methodology approach

Anthropogenic impacts on Posidonia oceanica meadows have led to a decline of this ecosystem throughout the Mediterranean. Transplantations have often been prescribed as a compensation measure to mitigate the impacts caused by coastal maritime works. Here a Q methodology approach was used to investigate the stakeholders’ attitudes in four case studies of P. oceanica transplants realized in Italian waters. Twenty-two respondents were asked to score 37 statements, and the resultant Q-sorting was analyzed via an inverse PCA using the KADE software. Four discourses, corresponding to the significant axes in the factorial analysis were identified: science and conservation (F1), oriented at a rigorous scientific approach; engineering and industry (F2), oriented at the economic development; environmentalism and participation (F3), oriented at the conservation of seagrass meadows; and transplantation-oriented (F4), oriented at the realization of transplants as compensation measures. The main conflicts and agreements between discourses are assessed and discussed, based on the analysis of the distinguishing statements that contributed to consensus or disagreement among discourses. The benefits of the Q methodology in the identification and mediation of conflicts in the four case studies are discussed, and its potential as a powerful aid in the development of a good environmental governance is acknowledged

Pulsed quantum optomechanics

Studying mechanical resonators via radiation pressure offers a rich avenue for the exploration of quantum mechanical behavior in a macroscopic regime. However, quantum state preparation and especially quantum state reconstruction of mechanical oscillators remains a significant challenge. Here we propose a scheme to realize quantum state tomography, squeezing and state purification of a mechanical resonator using short optical pulses. The scheme presented allows observation of mechanical quantum features despite preparation from a thermal state and is shown to be experimentally feasible using optical microcavities. Our framework thus provides a promising means to explore the quantum nature of massive mechanical oscillators and can be applied to other systems such as trapped ions.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Political Regimes and Sovereign Credit Risk in Europe, 1750-1913

This article uses a new panel data set to perform a statistical analysis of political regimes and sovereign credit risk in Europe from 1750 to 1913. Old Regime polities typically suffered from fiscal fragmentation and absolutist rule. By the start of World War I, however, many such countries had centralized institutions and limited government. Panel regressions indicate that centralized and?or limited regimes were associated with significant improvements in credit risk relative to fragmented and absolutist ones. Structural break tests also reveal close relationships between major turning points in yield series and political transformations

Measurement of Lagrangian velocity in fully developed turbulence

We have developed a new experimental technique to measure the Lagrangian velocity of tracer particles in a turbulent flow, based on ultrasonic Doppler tracking. This method yields a direct access to the velocity of a single particule at a turbulent Reynolds number $R_{\lambda} = 740$. Its dynamics is analyzed with two decades of time resolution, below the Lagrangian correlation time. We observe that the Lagrangian velocity spectrum has a Lorentzian form $E^{L}(\omega) = u_{rms}^{2} T_{L} / (1 + (T_{L}\omega)^{2})$, in agreement with a Kolmogorov-like scaling in the inertial range. The probability density function (PDF) of the velocity time increments displays a change of shape from quasi-Gaussian a integral time scale to stretched exponential tails at the smallest time increments. This intermittency, when measured from relative scaling exponents of structure functions, is more pronounced than in the Eulerian framework.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. to appear in PR