Mixed Estimation of Survey-Based Input-Output Models

This paper is concerned with the estimation problems of national and regional static input-output (I-O) models. It is argued that often what are really needed in I-O analysis are the coefficients of an I-O model and not the flows of the I-O table. An econometric estimate of "columns only" coefficients is suggested as a means of obtaining unbiased estimates and a measure of their reliability. Another important feature of the approach suggested is the attention given to extraneous information and judgment. Different estimators are given for the various situations that may occur. Results of a tentative partial application of this approach to a sector of the I-O model of the Veneto region are given

The Tuscany Interregional Input-Output Model (TIM): Mathematical Structure and Preliminary Results

Specialization is one of the foremost traits of modern industrial development. Technical and commercial factors have interacted to make large-scale production more profitable than earlier. This process has been concomitant with a regional concentration of production activities according to the prevailing comparative advantages. Even large, and strong, economic regions tend to have an insufficiently differentiated economy. In Tuscany, Italy, it is the leather, footwear, and textile industries that constitute the economic backbone of the region. They are complemented by, and competitive with, the traditional tourist industry. Technical progress and the development of factor costs have entailed a shift in international and interregional comparative advantages. Those industries demanding only low-skilled labor have expanded in low cost countries or regions. How these factors will affect the long-term development is a general problem of strongly specialized regions in industrialized countries. Such questions are also at the core of the case study of systems analysis for regional industrial development undertaken by the Regional Development Group, IIASA, in collaboration with the Regional Institute for Economic Planning of Tuscany (IRPET). A third party in this collaboration is the Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IASI) of the National Research Council, Rome. In the case study, a system of economic forecasting and policy evaluation models that address the above-mentioned development issues are being built. The models have a stronger emphasis on interregional and international dependencies than earlier regional studies. Moreover, the role of the regional authorities in policy generation and evaluation is more clearly designed here than elsewhere. The aim of the work is to develop a computerized model system for more or less permanent use, with a direct applicability to other urbanized regions of the Tuscany type. The Tuscany interregional input-output model (TIM) described in this paper forms the core of the economic forecasting and policy-evaluation model system. TIM is a linear static recursive system of equations of small dimensions that is intended as a tool for analyzing the trade relations of Tuscany. Tuscany and the Rest-of-Italy are considered as two regions in TIM. Each one is linked to the rest of the world where exports are exogenously determined. Foreign trade is taken into account by distinguishing between national and international flows. Complementarity and competitiveness of imports are considered in this model

Estimation of Parameters of Dynamic Input-Output Models with Limited Information

This paper deals with the problems of the estimation of capital coefficients of dynamic (closed with respect to investment) input-output models when the information available is limited

TENT-T Priority Projects. Where do we Stand?

TEN-T is intended to provide the single market with integrated modern transport networks, but infrastructure investment per se has other important effects. Besides reviewing the different reasons that justify public investment in infrastructure capital, the paper focuses the existing obstacles to a full implementation of TEN-T and, in particular, the funding gap, which has always been the most evident obstacle of them. Prospects and possible remedies are also briefly considered.peer-reviewe

Sea state monitoring by ship motion measurements onboard a research ship in the antarctic waters

A parametric wave spectrum resembling procedure is applied to detect the sea state parameters, namely the wave peak period and significant wave height, based on the measurement and analysis of the heave and pitch motions of a vessel in a seaway, recorded by a smartphone located onboard the ship. The measurement system makes it possible to determine the heave and pitch acceleration spectra of the reference ship in the encounter frequency domain and, subsequently, the absolute sea spectra once the ship motion transfer functions are provided. The measurements have been carried out onboard the research ship “Laura Bassi”, during the oceanographic campaign in the Antarctic Ocean carried out in January and February 2020. The resembled sea spectra are compared with the weather forecast data, provided by the global-WAM (GWAM) model, in order to validate the sea spectrum resembling procedure

Intracellular Trafficking of Guanylate-Binding Proteins Is Regulated by Heterodimerization in a Hierarchical Manner

Guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs) belong to the dynamin family of large GTPases and represent the major IFN-γ-induced proteins. Here we systematically investigated the mechanisms regulating the subcellular localization of GBPs. Three GBPs (GBP-1, GBP-2 and GBP-5) carry a C-terminal CaaX-prenylation signal, which is typical for small GTPases of the Ras family, and increases the membrane affinity of proteins. In this study, we demonstrated that GBP-1, GBP-2 and GBP-5 are prenylated in vivo and that prenylation is required for the membrane association of GBP-1, GBP-2 and GBP-5. Using co-immunoprecipitation, yeast-two-hybrid analysis and fluorescence complementation assays, we showed for the first time that GBPs are able to homodimerize in vivo and that the membrane association of GBPs is regulated by dimerization similarly to dynamin. Interestingly, GBPs could also heterodimerize. This resulted in hierarchical positioning effects on the intracellular localization of the proteins. Specifically, GBP-1 recruited GBP-5 and GBP-2 into its own cellular compartment and GBP-5 repositioned GBP-2. In addition, GBP-1, GBP-2 and GBP-5 were able to redirect non-prenylated GBPs to their compartment in a prenylation-dependent manner. Overall, these findings prove in vivo the ability of GBPs to dimerize, indicate that heterodimerization regulates sub-cellular localization of GBPs and underscore putative membrane-associated functions of this family of proteins

SIMBIO-SYS : Scientific Cameras and Spectrometer for the BepiColombo Mission

The SIMBIO-SYS (Spectrometer and Imaging for MPO BepiColombo Integrated Observatory SYStem) is a complex instrument suite part of the scientific payload of the Mercury Planetary Orbiter for the BepiColombo mission, the last of the cornerstone missions of the European Space Agency (ESA) Horizon + science program. The SIMBIO-SYS instrument will provide all the science imaging capability of the BepiColombo MPO spacecraft. It consists of three channels: the STereo imaging Channel (STC), with a broad spectral band in the 400-950 nm range and medium spatial resolution (at best 58 m/px), that will provide Digital Terrain Model of the entire surface of the planet with an accuracy better than 80 m; the High Resolution Imaging Channel (HRIC), with broad spectral bands in the 400-900 nm range and high spatial resolution (at best 6 m/px), that will provide high-resolution images of about 20% of the surface, and the Visible and near-Infrared Hyperspectral Imaging channel (VIHI), with high spectral resolution (6 nm at finest) in the 400-2000 nm range and spatial resolution reaching 120 m/px, it will provide global coverage at 480 m/px with the spectral information, assuming the first orbit around Mercury with periherm at 480 km from the surface. SIMBIO-SYS will provide high-resolution images, the Digital Terrain Model of the entire surface, and the surface composition using a wide spectral range, as for instance detecting sulphides or material derived by sulphur and carbon oxidation, at resolutions and coverage higher than the MESSENGER mission with a full co-alignment of the three channels. All the data that will be acquired will allow to cover a wide range of scientific objectives, from the surface processes and cartography up to the internal structure, contributing to the libration experiment, and the surface-exosphere interaction. The global 3D and spectral mapping will allow to study the morphology and the composition of any surface feature. In this work, we describe the on-ground calibrations and the results obtained, providing an important overview of the instrument performances. The calibrations have been performed at channel and at system levels, utilizing specific setup in most of the cases realized for SIMBIO-SYS. In the case of the stereo camera (STC), it has been necessary to have a validation of the new stereo concept adopted, based on the push-frame. This work describes also the results of the Near-Earth Commissioning Phase performed few weeks after the Launch (20 October 2018). According to the calibration results and the first commissioning the three channels are working very well.Peer reviewe