Risk Preference and Investments Quality as Determinants of Efficiency in the Italian Banking System

The Italian banking system is characterized by deep efficiency inequality between banks operating in different regions, with northern banks that largely outperform the southern ones. Moreover the ratio of non-performing loans to total loans is significantly higher in the South than elsewhere. In view of these evidences we asked: is the effi ciency gap of the southern banks (and therefore their lower screening and monitoring ability) the primary source of their higher level of bad loans? Or is the poorer quality of the southern bank loans (due to the adverse macroeconomic environment) that causes lower efficiency? The results offer rather concrete evidence in favour of the hypothesis that is a lower managerial efficiency which causes an increase in non-performing loans, whereas the eects of exogenous environmental shocks are negligible. As a second point to investigate, we recognize that banks have different risk aversion which differently affects the choice of input vector and we expressly take into account the capitalization degree (as a buffer against the risk) in estimating the bank cost stochastic frontier.

Advances in gastric cancer prevention.

2noGastric cancer is a multifactorial neoplastic pathology numbering among its causes both environmental and genetic predisposing factors. It is mainly diffused in South America and South-East Asia, where it shows the highest morbility percentages and it is relatively scarcely diffused in Western countries and North America. Although molecular mechanisms leading to gastric cancer development are only partially known, three main causes are well characterized: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, diet rich in salted and/or smoked food and red meat, and epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) mutations. Unhealthy diet and H. pylori infection are able to induce in stomach cancer cells genotypic and phenotypic transformation, but their effects may be crossed by a diet rich in vegetables and fresh fruits. Various authors have recently focused their attention on the importance of a well balanced diet, suggesting a necessary dietary education starting from childhood. A constant surveillance will be necessary in people carrying E-cadherin mutations, since they are highly prone in developing gastric cancer, also within the inner stomach layers. Above all in the United States, several carriers decided to undergo a gastrectomy, preferring changing their lifestyle than living with the awareness of the development of a possible gastric cancer. This kind of choice is strictly personal, hence a decision cannot be suggested within the clinical management. Here we summarize the key points of gastric cancer prevention analyzing possible strategies referred to the different predisposing factors. We will discuss about the effects of diet, H. pylori infection and E-cadherin mutations and how each of them can be handled.openopenGiordano A; Cito L.Giordano, Antonio; Cito, L

Parallel corpora and ST analysis: EU regulations on immigration in the specialised translation classroom

Starting from the assumption that “if corpora are to play a role in the translation professions of tomorrow, it is important that they impact on the education of the students of today” (Bernardini & Castagnoli, 2008, p. 40), this study endeavours to show how translation corpora of parallel texts (in English and in Italian) can be used in a Specialised Translation Master’s degree classroom. The point of departure is to examine parallel or aligned texts (originals and their translations) taken from the various European Union websites available for citizens to read and consult. The corpora currently being gathered include a variety of text typologies ranging from legal documents (such as regulations or directives), to administrative documents (such as White and Green papers) or informative texts (such as leaflets, brochures or web texts) (Felici, 2010, p. 101), all of them dealing with migration and asylum issues. The various types of documents are analysed quantitatively and qualitatively in class according to the following three main methodologies: Corpus Linguistics (Stubbs, 1996), Genre Analysis (Swales, 1990; Bhatia, 1993) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (Halliday, 1985; Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). Classroom experiences in the past few years have shown that building ad hoc corpora (or do-it-yourself corpora as coined by Krüger, 2012, p. 514) for classroom consumption is a valuable and precious learning tool which enables students to hone their practical skills in the resource gathering process and consequently in the translation process itself. This study focuses on an EU regulation and shows how a lesson in class can be conducted with students at Cagliari University, Italy. The aim is to get students to work on the quantitative aspects along with the more qualitative linguistic elements of the ST (Source Text) in order to obtain greater awareness and understanding of professional translator strategies used by the professionals in the translation agencies of European Union institutions. From an educational and academic point of view, the linguistic and contrastive analysis of certain features of the ST along with the investigation of specialised terminology associated with contexts of migration and asylum and their equivalents in the TT (Target Text), have so far provided the Master’s students at Cagliari University with useful insights and sound knowledge of the linguistic characteristics of legal and institutional discourse in both English and Italian

“Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure…”: metadiscourse in EU regulations on immigration

The ongoing Pan-European integration process has profoundly influenced the nature of European law and its development, demanding a review of “the ways of how language […] is materialized” (Gibová, 2009, p. 192). EU multilingualism is thus becoming an intricate concept since “EU translation is […] becoming the language of Europe” (Gibová, 2009, p. 192) encompassing a supranational view of the world conveyed in EU-wide legislation. Very much in line with this assumption, and taking into account the teaching experience in Specialised Translation Masters’ courses training would-be professional translators, this study examines a corpus of European Parliament Regulations on immigration.In order to understand whether dissimilarities and/or congruencies occur between the EU working language, i.e., English, and the Italian versions, the metadiscourse framework by Hyland (2005), comprising both interactive and interactional features, is used as the point of departure for the analysis of parallel texts. The Regulations produced by EU institutions and conveyed and transmitted both in English as a “procedural language” (Wagner, Bech, &Martίnez, 2012) as well as in Italian have been scrutinized both quantitatively and qualitatively, in order to draw precious pedagogical implications for translation studies and professional practice for future qualified and trained translators

Beyond the boundaries: migration discourse in EU parliamentary debates

Immigration has emerged as a prevalent political issue throughout the entire European Union over the past few years. Hardly a day goes by without news stories of people fleeing the Middle East and Northern Africa to reach the shores of Europe, or without an act of violence, the emergence of a new association or political party, or debates on policy initiatives taken by EU Member States. In this respect, and in ways which were almost completely ‘unexpected’ some years ago, nearly every single aspect of political discussion has been affected by the issue of immigration. In every European country new movements have emerged, anti-immigrant political parties have obtained electoral advances and have altered the balance of political forces. This new balance has influenced policy changes in the EU as Members States have attempted to deal with the challenges that threaten understandings, agreements, social policy and the political and social construction of Europe itself. By adopting CDA (Fairclough 1995, 2013; van Dijk 1984; Wodak 1997) and Zapata-Barrero’s distinction between re-active and pro-active discourse (2007), this work analyses a corpus of EU parliamentary debates on migration. The aim was to ascertain whether and to what extent the interventions taken into consideration negatively react against the process of integration and multiculturalism resulting from the arrival of migrants or whether they instead positively accompany the process and consider it a historic opportunity and not a threat. The ad hoc corpus, which covers a time span of three years – from 2016 to 2018 – will be investigated both quantitatively and qualitatively in order to identify the most frequent lexemes and their co-occurring patterns of usage along with the most recurrent or relevant phraseology in the verbatim reports. The interventions under scrutiny deal with migration issues, such as the flow of migrants legally or illegally entering the EU, asylum seekers, undocumented residents, borders and boundaries, thus allowing for the exploration of re-active and pro-active discourse constructions and of the strategies of legitimation used by MPs who try to demonstrate that their policies and actions towards immigration are legitimate, and executed within the boundaries and barriers of moral order and correct procedures (van Leeuwen, Wodak 1999; van Leeuwen 2007)

Thraulodes basimaculatus sp.n., a new species of mayfly from Bolivia (Ephemeroptera: Leptophlebiidae: Atalophlebiinae)

Thraulodes basimaculatus n. sp. is described from male imagos from Alto Beni, Bolivia. The malesof this species present the unique characteristic of having most of the basal half of the fore wingsand the entire membrane of the hind wings stained with brown. No other Thraulodes species hassimilar coloration.Fil: Giordano,Jjosé Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto Superior de Entomología; ArgentinaFil: Dominguez, Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentin

Screening and Genetic Diagnosis of Hemoglobinopathies in Southern and Northern Europe: Two Examples

Prevention of Hemoglobinopathies has developed around the world based upon the experience done in pioneering endemic countries and is now facing a new phase in non-endemic areas with a recent immigration history. We describe two situations, taking Latium (central Italy) and The Netherlands as two models for endemic and non-endemic countries both confronted with a large multi-ethnic immigrant society. We present prevention results and discuss aspects such as local knowledge and organization. We illustrate the importance of issues like information, carrier diagnostics, screening, counseling and prenatal diagnosis in particular situation of contrasting interest an different ethical opinions. We conclude by underlining the importance of implementing primary prevention at the European level, based upon better information, diagnostics and counseling