On cscK resolutions of conically singular cscK varieties

In this note we discuss the problem of resolving conically singular cscK varieties to construct smooth cscK manifolds, showing a glueing result for (some) crepant resolutions of cscK varieties with discrete automorphism groups

Veinteaños de sojización en el Sudoeste Bonaerense : conflictos y debates hoy

Los recursos naturales, en general, han tenido un rol de suma importancia en lo que respecta al desarrollo económico de los diversos países de América Latina. La coyuntura internacional en la actualidad pone de manifiesto una serie de problemáticas centrales en lo concerniente a los recursos naturales, dando como resultado la necesidad de observar dicho proceso para poder comprender las particularidades del mismo. Es así que en la actualidad, en función de los reordenamientos internacionales, el papel que juegan los recursos naturales deviene estratégico desde la geoeconomía y la geopolítica, cobrando un lugar prioritario en los planes de desarrollo de un país y de una región. En el caso que nos atañe, se observa que la tierra, en gran parte del sudoeste bonaerense atraviesa desde hace décadas el proceso de sojización. En este sentido se plantea la necesidad de analizar dicho proceso en los últimos 20 años, acompañado de un análisis de los conflictos vinculados a su producción. Es por ello que será necesario esclarecer cadenas productivas y circuitos de producción así como también identificar los actores centrales que protagonizan estos conflictos por la gestión y el acceso a los mismos, entre los que se reconocen consorcios empresariales diversos, de capitales extranjeros, que se instalan en nuestro país e interpelan las capacidades del Estado y de las organizaciones populares en el siglo XXI.Fil: Gallegos, Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasFil: Cristiano, Gabriela. Universidad Nacional del Su

THE ECONOMICS OF THE LIGHT ECONOMY. GLOBALIZATION, SKILL BIASED TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND SLOW GROWTH

The paper provides an interpretative framework and structured empirical evidence of the processes leading to the emergence of a light and slow growth economy in advanced countries. The interpretative framework rests upon the grafting of a) the Schumpeterian hypothesis about the role of creative reaction as the main determinant of the rate of technological change b) in a dynamic version of the Hecksher-Ohlin analysis with c) the Kuznets approach on the strict complementarity of structural and technological changes, and d) the new approach about the direction of technological change biased towards the most intensive use of locally abundant production factors. The analysis of the stylized facts and the empirical evidence confirms that the twin globalization of product and capital markets brought about by the entry of new labor abundant countries in international markets had profound effects on advanced countries leading to the introduction of skill biased technological change with the consequent decline of the role of the manufacturing industry and the emergence of a strong knowledge intensive business service sector. The new biased direction of technological change accelerated the substitution of both capital and unskilled labor with skilled workers with the ultimate effect of reducing the stock of working capital and hence the rates of growth of advanced economies. The slow growth is a physiological feature of the new emerging light economies that rely upon knowledge intensive but capital saving technologies

The mechanisms of knowledge governance: State owned enterprises and Italian economic growth, 1950–1994

We investigate the mechanisms of knowledge governance and show that the actual economic benefits stemming from knowledge externalities depend on the characteristics of (a) the sources of such externalities, (b) the context in which spillovers take place, (c) the potential users of the externalities. In the Italian experience of 1950-1994, state owned enterprises (SOE) have been one of the most effective mechanisms of knowledge governance. Italian SOE were effective sources of knowledge externalities as they imitated the US corporate model of intra-muros R&D laboratories. Research activities carried out by SOE were mainly based in upstream industries, with multiple user-producer interactions with firms active in downstream industries, and aimed at implementing a knowledge base characterized by high levels of generic content and a wide scope of application. These characteristics helped disseminate relevant knowledge externalities that played a positive role on total factor productivity in the second part of the XX century in Italy

Magnitude, delay and probability of reinforcer in hypothetical risk situations

O presente trabalho investigou os efeitos de quantias de dinheiro descritas como a alternativa de risco e da instrução sobre o valor subjetivo do reforço. Oito estudantes realizaram escolhas hipotéticas entre quantias de dinheiro certas ou imediatas que eram ajustadas de acordo com o comportamento dos sujeitos, e cinco quantias de magnitudes maiores (V = R$10,00 a R$100.000,00) atrasadas (uma semana a 50 anos) ou probabilísticas (0,05 a 0,95). A instrução positiva descrevia as chances ou o atraso para receber cada quantia, enquanto a instrução negativa descrevia as chances de perder ou o tempo de espera para não perder as quantias. O valor subjetivo diminuiu com o aumento de V provável, e aumentou com o aumento de V atrasado. Os resultados individuais foram melhor descritos por uma função potência do que pela hiperbólica. A variação da instrução não produziu diferenças sistemáticas. Os resultados são evidências para uma interpretação diferente do efeito da magnitude do reforço sobre o desconto de quantias prováveis ou atrasadas.The present study investigated the effects of reinforcement magnitude of the risk alternative and different instructions on the subjective reinforcement value. Eight undergraduate students made hypothetical choices between certain immediate amounts of money that were adjusted according to the subjects' behavior, and larger amounts (V = R$10,00 to R$100.000,00) with several delays (one week to 50 years) or probabilities (0,05 to 0,95) associated to V. The positive instruction described the odds or waiting time to gain each amount of money, while the negative instruction described the odds against or the waiting time for not loosing the money. The relative subjective value decreased with increase in the probable V, and increased with increase in the delayed V. Individual results were better described by a power function than by an hyperbola. There was no systematic effect related to different instructions. The present results are evidences for a different interpretation about the effects of the reinforcement magnitude on the discount of probable or delayed amounts

Mucosal adhesion and anti-inflammatory effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in the human colonic mucosa. A proof-of-concept study

AIM To investigate the adhesion and anti-inflammatory effects of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) in the colonic mucosa of healthy and ulcerative colitis (UC) patients, both in vivo and ex vivo in an organ culture model. METHODS For the ex vivo experiment, a total of 98 patients (68 UC patients and 30 normal subjects) were included. Endoscopic biopsies were collected and incubated with and without LGG or LGG-conditioned media to evaluate the mucosal adhesion and anti-inflammatory effects [reduction of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa) and interleukin (IL)-17 expression] of the bacteria, and extraction of DNA and RNA for quantification by real-time (RT)-PCR occurred after the incubation. A dose-response study was performed by incubating biopsies at "regular", double and 5 times higher doses of LGG. For the in vivo experiment, a total of 42 patients (20 UC patients and 22 normal controls) were included. Biopsies were taken from the colons of normal subjects who consumed a commercial formulation of LGG for 7 d prior to the colonoscopy, and the adhesion of the bacteria to the colonic mucosa was evaluated by RT-PCR and compared with that of control biopsies from patients who did not consume the formulation. LGG adhesion and TNFa and IL-17 expression were compared between UC patients who consumed a regular or double dose of LGG supplementation prior to colonoscopy. RESULTS In the ex vivo experiment, LGG showed consistent adhesion to the distal and proximal colon in normal subjects and UC patients, with a trend towards higher concentrations in the distal colon, and in UC patients, adhesion was similar in biopsies with active and quiescent inflammation. In addition, bioptic samples from UC patients incubated with LGG conditioned media (CM) showed reduced expression of TNFa and IL-17 compared with the corresponding expression in controls (P < 0.05). Incubation with a double dose of LGG increased mucosal adhesion and the anti-inflammatory effects (P < 0.05). In the in vivo experiment, LGG was detectable only in the colon of patients who consumed the LGG formulation, and bowel cleansing did not affect LGG adhesion. UC patients who consumed the double LGG dose had increased mucosal concentrations of the bacteria and reduced TNFa and IL-17 expression compared with patients who consumed the regular dose (48% and 40% reduction, respectively, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION In an ex vivo organ culture model, LGG showed consistent adhesion and anti-inflammatory effects. Colonization by LGG after consumption for a week was demonstrated in vivo in the human colon. Increasing the administered dose increased the adhesion and effectiveness of the bacteria. For the first time, we demonstrated that LGG effectively adheres to the colonic mucosa and exerts antiinflammatory effects, both ex vivo and in vivo

Adrenal pheochromocytoma incidentally discovered in a patient with parkinsonism

To evaluate the diagnostic route of pheochromocytoma (PHEO) in a patient under dopaminergic treatment. A 70-year-old man with Parkinsonism and under treatment with levodopa and carbidopa came to our observation for evaluation of arterial hypertension and right adrenal mass discovered incidentally. To evaluate adrenal hormone levels we performed a dexamethasone suppression test, plasma aldosterone levels and 24-hr urinary metanephrine, which revealed elevated levels of catecholamines metabolities. 123-I-metaiodobenzylguanidine SPECT scintiscan revealed raised activity within the right adrenal gland concordant with the mass. The diagnosis of PHEO was posed and an elective laparoscopic adrenalectomy was performed; histopathological examination confirmed the PHEO diagnosis. Recently the coexistence of PHEO and Parkinsonism is a very rare association of diseases, with only 3 cases reported in literature. In this article, another case is reported and diagnostic procedures are discusse

The impact of IoT technologies on product-oriented PSS: The 'home delivery' service case

The contribution aims to evaluate the impact that IoT technologies can have on PSS and services. Particularly, the analysis considers two dimensions: the typology of services enabled by the IoT, and the PSS lifecycle phases of the home delivery. By means of multiple use cases, authors found out that IoT technologies have huge impacts both on order placement and delivery phases. Particularly, they have a two-fold advantage for the main stakeholders involved: on one side they speed up operations and on the other they reduce the number of activities for completing the overall home delivery process

Hypokalemic rhabdomyolysis: a rare manifestation of primary aldosteronism

Rhabdomyolysis is a rare presentation of hypokalemia, although muscle weakness is a well-known manifestation of hypokalemia. Primary aldosteronism is characterized by hypertension, suppressed plasma renin activity, increased aldosterone excretion and hypokalemia with metabolic alkalosis. Rhabdomyolysis is not common in primary aldosteronism. We present here a 40-year-old woman presenting with rhabdomyolysis accompanied by severe hypokalemia as heralding symptom of primary aldosteronism

Importance of perforating vessels in nipple-sparing mastectomy. an anatomical description

BACKGROUND: Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM), understood as an oncologically valid procedure, is relatively new, and is an evolution of traditional mastectomy, particularly in relation to breast-conserving surgery. The anterior perforating branches are responsible for the cutaneous vascularization of the breast skin, and their preservation is a fundamental step to avoid possible postoperative necrosis. Therefore, evaluating the potential complications of cancer-related reconstructive surgical procedures such as NSM, both the distance of the tumoral lesion from the skin and the surgical incision site should be carefully considered. The preferred site of incision corresponds to the inframammary fold or possibly the periareolar area. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 113 patients who underwent NSM from January 2005 to October 2012 to evaluate skin complications. The anatomical study was performed by magnetic resonance imaging of the breast. RESULTS: Only one of the 113 women who had undergone a NSM procedure had total necrosis (0.9%) and six patients had partial necrosis (5.8%) of the nipple-areola complex