Pitfalls In Estimating ß-Convergence By Means Of Panel Data: An Empirical Test

This paper aims to test the conjecture advanced in a recent work by Bianchi and Menegatti (2007) that usual !convergence panel regressions may produce biased evidence, due to their inability to distinguish between actual catching-up across countries and decreasing growth rates over time within countries. The test considers different sub-groups in a dataset of 72 countries for the period 1970-2000 and introduces both human capital and proxies for technological differences into the analysis. The results confirm the conjecture that traditional evidence about - convergence may be misleading; they also show that catching-up across countries is weaker than usually claimed and that this process occurred only in some sub-groups of countries.Catching-up, Convergence, Economic Growth, Panel Estimation Techniques.

Experimental Evidence for a Cochlear Source of the Precedence Effect

The precedence effect (PE) refers to the dominance of directional information carried by a direct sound (lead) over the spatial information contained in its multiple reflections (lags) in sound localization. Although the processes underlying the PE have been largely investigated, the extent to which peripheral versus central auditory processes contribute to this perceptual phenomenon has remained unclear. The present study investigated the contribution of peripheral processing to the PE through a comparison of physiological and psychoacoustical data in the same human listeners. The psychoacoustical experiments, comprising a fusion task, an interaural time difference detection task and a lateralization task, demonstrated a time range from 1 to 4.6–5 ms, in which the PE operated (precedence window). Click-evoked otoacoustic emissions (CEOAEs) were recorded in both ears to investigate the lead–lag interactions at the level of the basilar membrane (BM) in the cochlea. The CEOAE-derived peripheral and monaural lag suppression was largest for ICIs of 1–4 ms. Auditory-evoked brainstem responses (ABRs) were used to investigate monaural and binaural lag suppression at the brainstem level. The responses to monaural stimulation reflected the peripheral lag suppression observed in the CEOAE results, while the binaural brainstem responses did not show any substantial contribution of binaural processes to monaural lag suppression. The results demonstrated that the lag suppression occurring at the BM in a time range from 1 to 4 ms, as indicated by the suppression of the lag-CEOAE, was the source of the reduction in the lag-ABRs and a possible peripheral contributor to the PE for click stimuli

Blind Prediction of a Full-Scale RC Bridge Column Tested Under Dynamic Conditions

The definition of appropriate modelling approaches combined with a consistent software framework is a topic of major importance in the present days for structural engineering in general and, particularly, for earthquake engineering. The accuracy of the results obtained in the recent “Concrete Column Blind Prediction Contest 2010” for a full-scale reinforced concrete bridge column tested on the NEES Large High-Performance Outdoor Shake Table, seems to indicate that current modelling strategies are on the right track. The 1.2 m diameter cantilevered column spans 7.2 m from the footing. A massive 230 tonne reinforced concrete block supported by the column generates the inertial forces to mobilize the column capacity. Seismic performance was investigated under 6 ground motions, starting with lowintensity shaking and bringing the column progressively to near-collapse conditions. Based on the obtained results from the pre-contest simulation, as well with the post-contest analysis, it was possible to extract some important conclusions regarding the application of several strategies, namely the use of different type elements, element discretization, constitutive laws for materials.N/

Detection of Faint BLR Components in the Starburst/Seyfert Galaxy NGC 6221 and Measure of the Central BH Mass

In the last decade, using single epoch virial based techniques in the optical band, it has been possible to measure the central black hole mass on large AGN1 samples. However these measurements use the width of the broad line region as a proxy of the virial velocities and are therefore difficult to be carried out on those obscured (type 2) or low luminosity AGN where the nuclear component does not dominate in the optical. Here we present the optical and near infrared spectrum of the starburst/Seyfert galaxy NGC 6221, observed with X-shooter/VLT. Previous observations of NGC 6221 in the X-ray band show an absorbed (N_H=8.5 +/- 0.4 x 10^21 cm^-2) spectrum typical of a type 2 AGN with luminosity log(L_14-195 keV) = 42.05 erg/s, while in the optical band its spectrum is typical of a reddened (A_V=3) starburst. Our deep X-shooter/VLT observations have allowed us to detect faint broad emission in the H_alpha, HeI and Pa_beta lines (FWHM ~1400-2300 km/s) confirming previous studies indicating that NGC 6221 is a reddened starburst galaxy which hosts an AGN. We use the measure of the broad components to provide a first estimate of its central black hole mass (M_BH = 10^(6.6 +/- 0.3) Msol, lambda_Edd=0.01-0.03), obtained using recently calibrated virial relations suitable for moderately obscured (N_H<10^24 cm^-2) AGN.Comment: 13 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. Published in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Science

Il Registro Toscano delle Malattie Rare

In meno di 10 anni l\u27attenzione per le malattie rare (MR) ha registrato una crescita cos? rapida da costituire un intervento prioritario tra le iniziative di sanit? pubblica. Fin dal 2001 il progetto regionale sulle MR si ? sviluppato in Toscana con la costante e significativa collaborazione delleAssociazioni dei malati, raccolte in un Forum. Si ? costituita una rete regionale di Presidi dedicati alla diagnosi e cura di queste patologie e delle strutture di coordinamento. Al fine di garantire la qualit? dei servizi prestati e l\u27informazione sui servizi erogati la Regione Toscana ha rinnovato il suo impegno sulle MR nel Piano Sanitario Regionale 2008-2010.In meno di 10 anni l\u27attenzione per le malattie rare (MR) ha registrato una crescita cos? rapida da costituire un intervento prioritario tra le iniziative di sanit? pubblica. Fin dal 2001 il progetto regionale sulle MR si ? sviluppato in Toscana con la costante e significativa collaborazione delleAssociazioni dei malati, raccolte in un Forum. Si ? costituita una rete regionale di Presidi dedicati alla diagnosi e cura di queste patologie e delle strutture di coordinamento. Al fine di garantire la qualit? dei servizi prestati e l\u27informazione sui servizi erogati la Regione Toscana ha rinnovato il suo impegno sulle MR nel Piano Sanitario Regionale 2008-2010

Pitch Discrimination in Musicians and Non-Musicians: Effects of Harmonic Resolvability and Processing Effort

Musicians typically show enhanced pitch discrimination abilities compared to non-musicians. The present study investigated this perceptual enhancement behaviorally and objectively for resolved and unresolved complex tones to clarify whether the enhanced performance in musicians can be ascribed to increased peripheral frequency selectivity and/or to a different processing effort in performing the task. In a first experiment, pitch discrimination thresholds were obtained for harmonic complex tones with fundamental frequencies (F0s) between 100 and 500 Hz, filtered in either a low- or a high-frequency region, leading to variations in the resolvability of audible harmonics. The results showed that pitch discrimination performance in musicians was enhanced for resolved and unresolved complexes to a similar extent. Additionally, the harmonics became resolved at a similar F0 in musicians and non-musicians, suggesting similar peripheral frequency selectivity in the two groups of listeners. In a follow-up experiment, listeners’ pupil dilations were measured as an indicator of the required effort in performing the same pitch discrimination task for conditions of varying resolvability and task difficulty. Pupillometry responses indicated a lower processing effort in the musicians versus the non-musicians, although the processing demand imposed by the pitch discrimination task was individually adjusted according to the behavioral thresholds. Overall, these findings indicate that the enhanced pitch discrimination abilities in musicians are unlikely to be related to higher peripheral frequency selectivity and may suggest an enhanced pitch representation at more central stages of the auditory system in musically trained listeners

Age stereotyping of gay and heterosexual men: Why does a minority sexual orientation blur the age of old men, in particular?

This research examined age stereotyping of male individuals displaying intersectional memberships stemming from the combination of age (Young vs. Elderly) and sexual orientation categories (Gay vs. Heterosexual). We found that the age stereotypes of ‘Elderly gay men’ were blurred: ‘Elderly gay men’ were stereotyped less on elderly- and more on young-stereotypical traits than both ‘Elderly heterosexual men’ (Study 1) and ‘Elderly men’ (Studies 2–4). These findings did not occur with any subtype, as was also not the case for ‘Elderly right-handed men’ (Study 3), but replicate only with atypical subtypes (Study 4). Indeed, the blurring of the age stereotypes for ‘Elderly gay men’ was replicated for an additional atypical subtype, ‘Elderly Atheist men’, and amplified when the atypical subtype involved ‘Elderly men’ in combination with ‘Athlete men’, whose stereotypes implied youthful traits (Study 4). The results informed cognitive models of multiple category stereotyping