Temporary migration and foreign direct investment

The question of complementarity or substitutability of FDI and international labour mobility has not yet been answered. The substitutability assumption does not take into consideration the technological spillover of FDI in the host countries. Moreover, migration flows reveal cultural characteristics and labour force properties of their native country which may stimulate bilateral business networks, strengthening the complementarity assumption between capital and labour flows. In this paper we build a continuous time dynamic model where these offsetting forces are at work. We analyze whether, and to what extent, the increase of labour mobility might affect FDI outflows. A numerical simulation is performed showing that to a higher labour mobility corresponds a higher income growth rate. Some policy implications and further research direction are suggested.Temporary Migrations; Migrant Network; FDI; Dynamic Model; European Union;

Does Migration Help Reducing Inequality and Social Exclusion?

The impact of remittance flows on growth and income distribution has attracted a great deal of attention, but the theoretical and empirical literature on the relationship between remittances and economic development is far from clear. Although there is wide consensus that foreign remittances can help receiving households to increase income, consumption and capabilities to cope with socioeconomic shocks, there has been little quantitative research on impacts of remittances on household welfare and poverty. Our paper seeks to fill some of these gaps proposing an empirical analysis of the role of remittances as a tool for reducing inequality and covering households against poverty and social exclusion risks. The empirical analysis focuses on four Eastern European Countries: Slovenia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, and is based on the EU-SILC 2005 data-set providing for each household information as to the received inter-household cash transfers and amongst which regular cash support from households in other countries (i.e. remittances) are included.Remittances, inequality, poverty

Faraway, so close: a spatial account of the Conte I government formation in Italy, 2018

The formation of the ‘yellow-green’ government that took office in Italy after the general election held on 4 March 2018 looked puzzling to many commentators as the two coalition partners – the Five Star Movement and the League – appeared to be quite distant on the left–right continuum. In this article, we argue that despite being widely used in the literature, a unidimensional representation of parties' policy positions on the encompassing left–right scale is inadequate to explain the process of coalition governments' formation. We focus first on coalition outcomes in Italy in the period 2001–18. Our statistical analysis including, among other variables, parties' policy distance on the left–right dimension performs rather well until 2013 but fails to predict the coalition outcome in 2018. To solve the puzzle, we propose a two-dimensional spatial account of the Conte I government formation in which the first dimension coincides with the economic left–right and the second one is related to immigration, the European Union issues and social conservatism. We show that the coalition outcome ceases to be poorly understandable once parties' policy positions are measured along these two dimensions, rather than on the general left–right continuum

The Entry of the M5S and the Reshaping of Party Politics in Italy (2008-2018)

This article examines how challenger parties enter the political arena and the effect of this entry by looking at the Italian 5 Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle - M5S). We explain the M5S's entry strategy in 2013 using the spatial approach to party competition and employing expert survey data collected for each national election between 2008 and 2018. These data allow us to analyse the changing spatial configuration of Italian politics due to the increasing salience of pro/anti-EU and pro/anti-immigration dimensions. We then apply the theoretical notion of the uncovered set (UCS) to trace how the M5S's entry reshaped the overall space of party competition, causing a realignment of existing parties. This work contributes to the ongoing debate on the electoral success of challenger parties and the emerging cleavages and polarization of party systems in Western European countries

Potenziale nutraceutico della frazione polifenolica di Cynara Scolymus

E' stato studiato il potere nutraceutico di Cynara Scolymus attraverso la valutazione del profilo qualitativo e quantitativo dei metaboliti secondari, studi di bioaccessibilità in vitro della componente polifenolica bioattiva e test cellulari in vitro per valutare effetti su parametri metabolici. Sono state considerate due parti della pianta: il capolino ed il gambo. Il confronto tra cinque diversi genotipi di carciofo ha mostrato un profilo metabolomico simile, ma ha evidenziato una ricchezza maggiore del gambo rispetto al capolino corrispondente di ogni genotipo, confermata poi dai test sull'attività antiossidante. Dagli studi di bioaccessibilità in vitro è emerso che il processo di cottura al microonde innalza il contenuto polifenolico della matrice vegetale di partenza (+175,5 %), e che i polifenoli risultano poco bioaccessibili (17% in media) a causa della sensibilità alle condizioni di digestione gastrica. I test cellulari in vitro, su cellule HepG2 mostrano che il capolino cotto di carciofo è il più attivo nell'inibire l'up-take di glucosio cellulare (+17 volte la sua quota extracellulare rispetto al controllo). Inoltre, esso è in grado di agire sul metabolismo lipidico, riducendo l'assorbimento cellulare dei trigliceridi (+109 volte il contenuto extracellulare rispetto al controllo), mediante inibizione dell'attività della lipasi pancreatica (-60% rispetto al controllo); inibendo l'up-take del colesterolo (+53 volte la sua quota extracellulare rispetto al controllo); aumentando l'assorbimento cellulare delle LDL (-75% del contenuto extracellulare rispetto al controllo); aumentando l'espressione della ApoA1 (+1400% rispetto al controllo). Infine, l'estratto polifenolico del capolino cotto svolge un'azione protettiva sulle cellule, mediante aumento della loro proliferazione (+76% rispetto al controllo), riduzione delle specie reattive dell'azoto (TBARS) (-68% rispetto al controllo) e aumento dell'ossido nitrico (NO) extracellulare (+866.6% rispetto al controllo). I nostri risultati vogliono essere d'aiuto alle industrie produttrici di integratori alimentari, suggerendo l'applicazione di stress termici alle matrici di partenza al fine di aumentarne il contenuto di molecole bioattive; suggeriscono la formulazione dell'estratto di Cynara Scolymus in compresse o capsule gastroresistenti per preservarne la quota polifenolica; propongono l'utilizzo del gambo come matrice di partenza, in quanto fonte ricca di metaboliti bioattivi; e incoraggiano l'utilizzo di formulazioni farmaceutiche a base di Cynara Scolymus per il trattamento di diverse patologie metaboliche. Ovviamente, ulteriori studi in vivo e clinici sono necessari per confermare tali proprietà salutistiche

Liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry analysis of synthetic coccidiostats in eggs

Coccidiostats are synthetic drugs administered to animals, especially to poultry, to cure coccidiosis. In this paper, we present a selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method to analyze residues of five synthetic coccidiostats in eggs: clazuril, diclazuril, robenidine, nicarbazin, toltrazuril and its two metabolites. The extraction efficiency was evaluated by testing several solvents, pH, different volumes and time of extraction. The clean-up procedures were optimized using different solid phase extraction cartridges and different eluants. The chromatographic separation was achieved in reversed phase using a gradient of 0.1% formic acid in water and acetonitrile, whereas the MS detection was performed in negative electrospray ionization (ESI) for all the analytes, except for the robenidine. The developed method has been validated according to Commission Decision 2002/657/CE. The validation parameters, as linearity, precision, recovery, specificity, decision limit (CC alpha), detection capability (CC beta), and robustness have been determined. The proposed method resulted simple, fast, and suitable for screening and confirmation purposes

Simulated gastrointestinal digestion, intestinal permeation and plasma protein interaction of white, green, and black tea polyphenols

The gastrointestinal digestion, intestinal permeation, and plasma protein interaction of polyphenols from a single tea cultivar at different stages of processing (white, green, and black teas) were simulated. The salivary phase contained 74.8-99.5% of native polyphenols, suggesting potential bioavailability of significant amounts of antioxidants through the oral mucosal epithelium that might be gastric sensitive and/or poorly absorbed in the intestine. White tea had the highest content and provided the best intestinal bioaccessibility and bioavailability for catechins. Since most of native catechins were not absorbed, they were expected to accumulate in the intestinal lumen where a potential inhibition capacity of cellular glucose and cholesterol uptake was assumed. The permeated catechins (approximately, 2-15% of intestinal levels) significantly bound (about 37%) to plasma HDLs, suggesting a major role in cholesterol metabolism. White tea and its potential nutraceuticals could be effective in the regulation of plasma glucose and cholesterol levels

Bargaining power and trade credit

This paper investigates how the supplier's bargaining power affects trade credit supply. We use a novel firm-level database of Chinese firms with unique information on the amount, terms, and payment history of trade credit extended to customers and detailed information on product market structure and clients-supplier relationships. We document that suppliers with weak bargaining power towards their customers are more likely to extend trade credit, have a larger share of goods sold on credit, and offer a longer payment period before imposing penalties. Important customers extend the payment period beyond what has been offered by their supplier and generate overdue payments. Furthermore, weak bargaining power suppliers are less likely to offer trade credit when credit-constrained by banks. Our findings suggest that suppliers use trade credit as a competitive device in the product market