The Eurozone Crisis: Institutional Setting, Structural Vulnerability, and Policies

The unfolding of the crisis in the Eurozone can be explained by the interaction of institutional features and policy failures, and by their interconnection with real and financial imbalances. The crisis has shown that internal divergence in the EZ is based on important structural components which are unsustainable in the long run. Indeed, the crisis has magnified the gap between the vulnerable peripheral member countries and a more resilient core. The paper analyses those factors that opened the way to the diffusion of the financial and economic crisis in the Eurozone. It also discusses the structural consequences of these events and critically analyses the institutional and political reforms which the Eurozone is facing in order to enhance its capability to cope with external shocks.Eurozone; European Union; European Monetary Union; euro; Common fiscal parameters; Real convergence; Productivity

Nuclear astrophysics and underground accelerators

Accurate knowledge of thermonuclear reaction rates is a key issue in nuclear astrophysics since it is important for understanding the energy generation, neutrino production and the synthesis of the elements in stars. Cross-section measurements are mainly hampered by the very low counting rate and cosmic background. An underground location is extremely advantageous for such studies, as demonstrated by the LUNA experiment in the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy). This paper reports on the results recently obtained by such an experiment and on the future perspectives in this field

Background-Source separation in astronomical images with Bayesian Probability Theory

In this work a new method for the detection of faint, both point-like and extended, astronomical objects based on the integrated treatment of source and background signals is described. This technique is applied to public data obtained by imaging methods of high-energy observational astronomy in the X-ray spectral regime. These data are usually employed to address current astrophysical problems, e.g. in the fields of stellar and galaxy evolution and the large-scale structure of the universe. The typical problems encountered during the analysis of these data are: spatially varying cosmic background, large variety of source morphologies and intensities, data incompleteness, steep gradients in the data, and few photon counts per pixel. These problems are addressed with the developed technique. Previous methods extensively employed for the analysis of these data are, e.g., the sliding window and the wavelet based techniques. Both methods are known to suffer from: describing large variations in the background, detection of faint and extended sources and sources with complex morphologies. Large systematic errors in object photometry and loss of faint sources may occur with these techniques. The developed algorithm is based on Bayesian probability theory, which is a consistent probabilistic tool to solve an inverse problem for a given state of information. The information is given by a parameterized model for the background and prior information about source intensity distributions quantified by probability distributions. For the background estimation, the image data are not censored. The background rate is described by a two-dimensional thin-plate spline function. The background model is given by the product of the background rate and the exposure time which accounts for the variations of the integration time. Therefore, the background as well as effects like vignetting, variations of detector quantum efficiency and strong gradients in the exposure time are being handled properly which results in improved detections with respect to previous methods. Source probabilities are provided for individual pixels as well as for correlations of neighboring pixels in a multi-resolution analysis. Consequently, the technique is able of detecting point-like and extended sources and their complex morphologies. Furthermore, images of different spectral bands can be combined probabilistically to further increase the resolution in crowded regions. The developed method characterizes all detected sources in terms of position, number of source counts, and shape including uncertainties. The comparison with previous techniques shows that the developed method allows for an improved determination of background and source parameters. The method is applied to data obtained by the ROSAT and Chandra X-ray observatories whereas particularly the detection of faint and extended sources is improved with respect to previous analyses. This lead to the discovery of new galaxy clusters and quasars in the X-ray band which are confirmed in the optical regime using additional observational data. The new technique developed in this work is particularly suited to the identification of objects featuring extended emission like clusters of galaxies

Measuring the Business Environment for Entrepreneurship: SMEs, Quality of Institutions and Development

This paper aims to contribute to understand the role of entrepreneurship in fragile states, which despite the practical interest and relevance has been somewhat disregarded in academic research. Given the necessity to support policy formulation with appropriate and relevant measurement of entrepreneurship and the business environment, the primary focus in this paper is to scrutinise existing international indicators, in particular the World Bank Doing Business Indicators (DBIs) and ask whether they are able to capture entrepreneurial dynamics and constructively guide policy making towards entrepreneurship in fragile state. The paper argues that DBIs give a partial picture of the nexus between institutional context, policy reforms, entrepreneurship and economic development. In particular, DBIs analysis fails in addressing three pivotal aspects: first, the process through which individuals become entrepreneurs, second, industrial cooperative and competitive relationships both intersectoral and across different sectors of the economy, and third, the characteristics of workers employed in enterprises. Consequently, DBIs are not able to capture innovation and changing processes, and miss some pivotal features of both the internal and the external environment of the enterprise. The paper maintains that these shortcomings are particularly serious when referred to fragile countries and discusses how and to what extent DBIs lead to adverse-effect policy recommendations, being inadequate for policy planning in fragile areas.

LUNA: Nuclear Astrophysics Deep Underground

Nuclear astrophysics strives for a comprehensive picture of the nuclear reactions responsible for synthesizing the chemical elements and for powering the stellar evolution engine. Deep underground in the Gran Sasso laboratory the cross sections of the key reactions of the proton-proton chain and of the Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen (CNO) cycle have been measured right down to the energies of astrophysical interest. The salient features of underground nuclear astrophysics are summarized here. The main results obtained by LUNA in the last twenty years are reviewed, and their influence on the comprehension of the properties of the neutrino, of the Sun and of the Universe itself are discussed. Future directions of underground nuclear astrophysics towards the study of helium and carbon burning and of stellar neutron sources in stars are pointed out.Comment: Invited review, submitted to Annu. Rev. Nucl. Part. Scienc

Development and Case Study Application of a Proxy-Generated Outcome Measure of Suffering for use with Clients with Illusory Mental Health

The concept of illusory mental health is described as the rationale for needing an approach for working with individuals who are unaware of their suffering and are therefore unable to describe their problems through self-report instruments. The use of a nomothetic approach using self-report or clinician-generated standardised instruments is compared with an idiographic approach for working with such individuals. A case study is used to illustrate the development and first application of a Proxy-Generated Outcome Measure (PGOM) that allows clinicians, observers and researchers to trace an individualised understanding of a client's core sufferings and changes occurring during the process of psychotherapy. A comparison with a nomothetic outcome measure is also presented

Polyhedra and commensurability

This snapshot introduces the notion of commensurability of polyhedra. At its bottom, this concept can be developed from constructions with paper, scissors, and glue. Starting with an elementary example, we formalize it subsequently. Finally, we discuss intriguing connections with other fields of mathematics

Ensino de design e empresas culturais: linguagens, ferramentas e métodos em direção a uma participação rentável

The topic of this paper is focus on the relationship between design teaching and the different kinds of cultural partners in the field of the cultural design. In this context we mean the company as cultural company. In fact the cultural production is increasingly a lively area of intervention and of business. We assume that it is very important to involve the real interlocutors in the process of design teaching and especially in the field of the cultural design where the complexity of the system is an interesting pretext for to create the useful situations. Specifically we study the relationship between the design disciplines and the humanities sciences as a basis to know the methodologies to enable the contact and the synergies with the cultural institutions (museum, territory communities...). In fact museums, associations, majors, communities of the territories are mainly managed by profiles humanities. The hypothesis is the design teaching programs can be a necessary tool to put innovation in the cultural system (in the specific realities) and (symmetrically) the cultural partners are an important filed of experimentation, but for this target is necessary that design develops the tools and specific modality of dialogue. A demonstration of what will be explained two different experiences of design teaching where the relationship between design and the anthropology culture represent a model of collaboration. The first one regards an intervention (in terms of strategic and exhibit design research) in the Anthropological Museum in Florence; the second one regards a cluster of interpenetrations (in terms of strategic, communication and exhibit de innovasign research) about a cultural identity of the Italian Alpine (partner involved: region Lombardia). In the latter case we work mainly on immaterial cultural heritage (festivals, rituals, gestures, knowledge...)Key words: design and humanities, cultural design, anthropology, rituals, creative ethnography document.Esta investigação foca na relação entre ensino de design e os tipos diferentes de parceiros culturais na área do projeto cultural. Neste contexto, significa que a companhia cultural é percebida como uma empresa. Na verdade, a produção cultural demonstra ser cada vez mais uma animada zona de intervenções e de negócios. Consideramos fundamental o envolvimento dos reais interlocutores no processo de concepção e de ensino especialmente no campo da criação cultural onde a complexidade do sistema funciona como um pretexto para se chegar a soluções úteis. Especificamente estudamos a relação entre as disciplinas de design e as ciências humanas como base para conhecer as metodologias que permitem o contato e as sinergias com as instituições culturais (museus, as comunidades dos territórios, etc.). Na verdade, museus, associações, na maioria dos casos são geridos principalmente pelos perfis humanistas. Nossa hipótese é que os programas de ensino do design podem ser uma ferramenta necessária para colocar a inovação no sistema cultural (nas realidades específicas) e (simetricamente) os parceiros culturais são um importante campo de experimentação, mas se atingir este objetivo se faz necessário que o projeto desenvolva as ferramentas de diálogo. Uma demonstração do será explicado de duas experiências diferentes de ensino de design, onde a relação entre o design e a antropologia cultural representam um modelo de colaboração. O primeiro respeita uma intervenção (em termos de pesquisa em design estratégico e exposição), no Museu Antropológico, em Florença, a segunda se refere a um conjunto de intervenções (em termos de comunicação, estratégia e pesquisa em design gráfico) sobre a identidade cultural do italiano Alpino (parceiro envolvido: Região de Lombardia). Neste último caso, trabalhamos principalmente com o patrimônio cultural imaterial (festas, rituais, gestos, saberes, etc.).Palavras-chave: design e humanidades, projeto cultural, antropologia, rituais, documento, etnografia criativa