Industrial Development Policies and Performances in Southern China: Beyond the Specialised Industrial Cluster Program

none3The paper offers an updated picture of the policies implemented by the government of the Guangdong Province (China) to foster the industrial development and the technological upgrading of its territories. Among these policies is the promotion and the institutional acknowledgement of a growing number of industrial clusters, defined as “specialized towns”, characterized by a high spatial concentration of firms producing one specific item (or a limited range of similar products). In the view of the provincial and local governments these types of industrial development programs are used to increase firms agglomerations, spatial concentration and visibility, which in turn leads to increased specialization, industrial output, innovation and economic growth. However, little specific empirical evidence has been collected to support this view and the debate, at the national and international level, on the effectiveness of such interventions seems to be still largely ideological. The paper offers a contribution in this sense by offering a detailed description of the policy tools, by suggesting synthetic indexes to quantify policy efforts and industrial performances in Guangdong territories and by providing a first statistical analysis of these indexesmixedBarbieri E.; Di Tommaso M.R.; Bonnini S.Barbieri, Elisa; DI TOMMASO, Marco Rodolfo; Bonnini, Stefan

La Terza Italia di Fronte alla Crisi e alla Crescita delle Nuove Potenze Manifatturiere. Una Metodologia di Supporto alle Decisioni di Politica Industriale Regionale

Lo scoppio della Crisi nel 2008 ha fin da subito in molti paesi stimolato interventi di politica industriale volti al supporto, alla difesa e al rilancio delle proprie economie. L’Italia tuttavia, segnata da un periodo di persistente fragilità e instabilità politica, ha visto forti limiti nelle capacità del governo nazionale di definire e implementare una strategia realmente intenzionata a promuovere la crescita, il cambiamento strutturale e il rilancio competitivo delle produzioni italiane. Questo scenario, mentre da una parte spiega e giustifica l’attivismo dei governi di alcune regioni italiane, dall’altro lato impone un’attenta riflessione su come rendere la politica industriale regionale più efficace ed efficiente. Incentrando l’analisi sul sistema manifatturiero delle regioni della Terza Italia, questo lavoro propone una metodologia per migliorare la trasparenza e l’efficacia nella scelta dei settori strategici di interesse per la politica industriale. In particolare sviluppiamo un indicatore composto – l’Indice di Settore Strategico (ISS) – per classificare i settori manifatturieri regionali in base alla loro importanza strategica e applichiamo una metodologia, l’uncertainty analysis, per valutare la robustezza del ranking e il grado di discrezionalità del policy-maker nel condizionare i risultati dell’analisi

ESTABLISHING THE REFERENCE RANGE FOR T LYMPHOCYTES SUBPOPULATIONS IN ADULTS AND CHILDREN FROM BRAZIL

SUMMARY In Brazil, the existing reference values for T-lymphocytes subsets are based on data originated in other countries. There is no local information on normal variation for these parameters in Brazilian adults and children. We evaluated the normal variation found in blood donors from five large Brazilian cities, in different regions, and in children living in Salvador, and Rio de Janeiro. All samples were processed by flow cytometry. The results were analyzed according to region, gender, and lifestyle of blood donors. A total of 641 adults (63% males), and 280 children (58% males) were involved in the study. The absolute CD3+, and CD4+ cells count were significantly higher for females (adults and children). Higher CD4+ cell count in adults was associated with smoking, while higher CD8+ count was found among female children. Higher counts, for all T-cells subsets, were detected in blood donors from southeast / south regions while those living in the northern region had the lowest values. Individuals from midwestern and northeastern regions had an intermediate count for all these cells subsets. However, these differences did not reach statistical significance. In Brazil, gender and smoking, were the main determinants of differences in T-lymphocytes reference values.RESUMO Os valores de referências de linfócitos T existentes no Brasil são baseados em dados originados de outros países. Não existem dados locais da variação normal para estes parâmetros em adultos e crianças brasileiras. Avaliamos a variação normal encontrada em doadores de sangue de cinco grandes cidades brasileiras em diferentes regiões e em crianças residentes em Salvador e Rio de Janeiro. Todas as amostras foram processadas por citometria de fluxo. Os resultados foram analisados de acordo com região, gênero e estilo de vida dos doadores. Um total de 641 adultos (63% homens) e 280 crianças (58% meninos) participaram do estudo. Valores absolutos de CD3+ e CD4+ foram significantemente maiores no gênero feminino (adultos e crianças). Maiores valores de CD4+ em adultos foram associados com tabagismo, enquanto que maiores valores de CD8+ foram encontrados entre crianças do sexo feminino. Adultos das regiões sul e sudeste apresentaram maiores valores absolutos para todas as células T enquanto que adultos da região norte, apresentaram menores valores. Indivíduos residentes no nordeste e centro-oeste obtiveram contagens intermediárias para todas as populações de células T. Entretanto, estas diferenças entre as regiões, não demonstraram diferença estatística. No Brasil, gênero e tabagismo foram os principais determinantes para diferenças em valores de referências de linfócitos T

Focusing effect of bent GaAs crystals for γ-ray Laue lenses: Monte Carlo and experimental results

We report on results of observation of the focusing effect from the planes (220) of Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) crystals. We have compared the experimental results with the Monte Carlo simulations of the focusing capability of GaAs tiles performed with a dedicated ray-tracer. The GaAs tiles were bent using a lapping process developed at the cnr/imem - Parma (Italy) in the framework of the laue project, funded by ASI, dedicated to build a broad band Laue lens prototype for astrophysical applications in the hard X-/soft γ-ray energy range (80-600 keV). We present and discuss the results obtained from their characterization, mainly in terms of focusing capability. Bent crystals will significantly increase the signal to noise ratio of a telescope based on a Laue lens, consequently leading to an unprecedented enhancement of sensitivity with respect to the present non focusing instrumentation

Evaluation of Brain Nuclear Medicine Imaging Tracers in a Murine Model of Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a set of widely used nuclear medicine imaging agents as possible methods to study the early effects of systemic inflammation on the living brain in a mouse model of sepsis-associated encephalopathy (SAE). The lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine systemic inflammation model was selected as a model of SAE. PROCEDURES: C57BL/6 mice were used. A multimodal imaging protocol was carried out on each animal 4 h following the intravenous administration of LPS using the following tracers: [(99m)Tc][2,2-dimethyl-3-[(3E)-3-oxidoiminobutan-2-yl]azanidylpropyl]-[(3E)-3-hyd roxyiminobutan-2-yl]azanide ([(99m)Tc]HMPAO) and ethyl-7-[(125)I]iodo-5-methyl-6-oxo-4H-imidazo[1,5-a][1,4]benzodiazepine-3-carbox ylate ([(125)I]iomazenil) to measure brain perfusion and neuronal damage, respectively; 2-deoxy-2-[(18)F]fluoro-D-glucose ([(18)F]FDG) to measure cerebral glucose uptake. We assessed microglia activity on another group of mice using 2-[6-chloro-2-(4-[(125)I]iodophenyl)-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-3-yl]-N-ethyl-N-methyl -acetamide ([(125)I]CLINME). Radiotracer uptakes were measured in different brain regions and correlated. Microglia activity was also assessed using immunohistochemistry. Brain glutathione levels were measured to investigate oxidative stress. RESULTS: Significantly reduced perfusion values and significantly enhanced [(18)F]FDG and [(125)I]CLINME uptake was measured in the LPS-treated group. Following perfusion compensation, enhanced [(125)I]iomazenil uptake was measured in the LPS-treated group's hippocampus and cerebellum. In this group, both [(18)F]FDG and [(125)I]iomazenil uptake showed highly negative correlation to perfusion measured with ([(99m)Tc]HMPAO uptake in all brain regions. No significant differences were detected in brain glutathione levels between the groups. The CD45 and P2Y12 double-labeling immunohistochemistry showed widespread microglia activation in the LPS-treated group. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that [(125)I]CLINME and [(99m)Tc]HMPAO SPECT can be used to detect microglia activation and brain hypoperfusion, respectively, in the early phase (4 h post injection) of systemic inflammation. We suspect that the enhancement of [(18)F]FDG and [(125)I]iomazenil uptake in the LPS-treated group does not necessarily reflect neural hypermetabolism and the lack of neuronal damage. They are most likely caused by processes emerging during neuroinflammation, e.g., microglia activation and/or immune cell infiltration

Indagine quantitativa su opinioni, interessi e aspettative sulla città dei turisti e visitatori di Ferrara

Lo studio analizza i flussi turistici nella città di Ferrara, analizza la composizione delle presenze turistiche, il gradimento per i principali eventi turistici e la domanda di servizi legati ad iniziative turistiche, cercando inoltre di individuare punti di forza e debolezza di Ferrara. I dati si basano su una indagine condotta nel 2013

Analisi statistica delle presenze turistiche a Ferrara e relazione con i principali eventi nel triennio 2010-2012

Studio delle presenze turistiche a Ferrara nel triennio 2010-2012 e analisi degli effetti dei principali eventi sulle presenze giornaliere

Habits and behaviors of students at lunch and factors affecting student’s satisfaction for the canteen service: the case of University of Ferrara

In 2012 a survey on the quality of life of students of University of Ferrara inspired to Eurostudent was performed by the Center for Modeling, Computation and Simulation (CMCS) of this University. The questionnaire was designed according to a division into several sections related to different aspects considered crucial for an exhaustive knowledge of students’ behaviors and habits. The present paper focus on habits and behaviors of students at lunch, their level of use and satisfaction for some aspects of the canteen service of the University. Some descriptive statistics and an inferential analysis aimed at identifying the main factors affecting the students’ satisfaction for the canteen service through the application of the ANOVA method are considered