Agricultural and Economic Convergence in the EU Integration Process: Do Geographical Relationships Matter?

In the light of the reaffirmed importance of agricultural convergence within the integration process, the paper provides a preliminary investigation of the impact of the enlargement from the EU-15 to the EU-27 on agricultural real b-convergence and, with reference to the EU-27, of its relationship with economic catching-up process. The empirical analysis, based on a GWR approach, takes into account the regional spatial interdependences in estimating local parameters of convergence. The approach adopted allows to overcome the contradictory results from OLS estimations and parametric spatial econometric models pointed out by the literature and primarily connected to the existence of no unique convergence rate all over Europe. The analysis is based on a sample of 259 EU-27 regions at NUTS 2 level and is referred to the time period from 1991-2007.Regional convergence, Spatial analysis, GWR approach, International Relations/Trade,

Pump and Dumps in the Bitcoin Era: Real Time Detection of Cryptocurrency Market Manipulations

In the last years, cryptocurrencies are increasingly popular. Even people who are not experts have started to invest in these securities and nowadays cryptocurrency exchanges process transactions for over 100 billion US dollars per month. However, many cryptocurrencies have low liquidity and therefore they are highly prone to market manipulation schemes. In this paper, we perform an in-depth analysis of pump and dump schemes organized by communities over the Internet. We observe how these communities are organized and how they carry out the fraud. Then, we report on two case studies related to pump and dump groups. Lastly, we introduce an approach to detect the fraud in real time that outperforms the current state of the art, so to help investors stay out of the market when a pump and dump scheme is in action.Comment: Accepted for publication at The 29th International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (ICCCN 2020

Chaos at the Gates: The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and energy price shocks on South Korea's gas industry amid energy transition

South Korea was one of the first countries to be hit by the coronavirus infections. Having rapidly contained the health emergency in the immediate period, Seoul arguably mitigated the economic fallouts more successfully than the majority of advanced economies but could not avoid substantial losses. The far-reaching fallout of COVID-19 has been testing the country's energy transition pathway, as actors involved are facing difficult decisions amid more stringent financial constraints to deliver their ambitious targets, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Amid the combined effects of the pandemic and the global energy prices shocks, addressing the nexus between energy security on the supply side, affordability, and the safety of people's lives and property, has become even more pressing. Against this backdrop, natural gas has tailored a special role to bridge the low carbon re-alignment of the entire Korean energy system, also in the face of the current and future challenges to Korea's energy security. But long-drawn hurdles stemming from rather unsuccessful efforts to reform the gas system risk weakening its ability to cope with present uncertainties and heightened volatilities

INDUSTRIAL AREAS. A SURVEY, ANALYSIS AND APPRAISAL OF THE POTENTIAL FOR CONVERSION OF DISUSED INDUSTRIAL AREAS IN TICINO

This research, promoted by the Università della Svizzera italiana, Accademia di architettura di Mendrisio, through i.CUP (Institute for the Contemporary Urban Project) laid the ground for establishing an observatory of industrial buildings that would give special attention to their fall into disuse and – at the same time – explore the scenarios for appraising the scope for converting potentially disused buildings and land. The study of disused industrial buildings in Ticino revealed considerable scope for the reuse of potentially disused industrial buildings. The data on buildings put to industrial use show that the number of industrial premises in Ticino is 3,681 and that they occupy 2,743 land parcels. The surface area covered by these buildings amounts to 2,503,335 square metres, corresponding to 8.7% of the total area of land built on in the canton. Land parcels accommodating at least one building put to a mainly industrial use account for 14,349,282 square metres of land in Ticino, equal about to 6% of the overall building area of Ticino Canton. Of the above land and building stock, 1,120 buildings (casting off 30.4%) covering a total surface area of 804,591 square metres (casting off 32.1%) (corresponding to the built surface of Bellinzona commune) qualify as potentially disused and the land parcels accommodating them number 813 (casting off 29.6%), 7,058,532 sq m (casting off 49.1%), equating to about half the surface area of Bellinzona commune. An approximate estimate of the volume of the buildings surveyed (the average height is 6 metres) yields a value of 5,000,000 cubic metres.industrial areas, disused buildings, diused land

Modelli virtuali, esperienze reali e pratiche didattiche: qualche riflessione

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Molecular-based tumour subtypes of canine mammary carcinomas assessed by immunohistochemistry

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human breast cancer is classified by gene expression profile into subtypes consisting of two hormone (oestrogen and/or progesterone) receptor-positive types (luminal-like A and luminal-like B) and three hormone receptor-negative types [human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-expressing, basal-like, and unclassified ("normal-like")]. Immunohistochemical surrogate panels are also proposed to potentially identify the molecular-based groups. The present study aimed to apply an immunohistochemical panel (anti-ER, -PR, -ERB-B2, -CK 5/6 and -CK14) in a series of canine malignant mammary tumours to verify the molecular-based classification, its correlation with invasion and grade, and its use as a prognostic aid in veterinary practice.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Thirty-five tumours with luminal pattern (ER+ and PR+) were subgrouped into 13 A type and 22 B type, if ERB-B2 positive or negative. Most luminal-like A and basal-like tumours were grade 1 carcinomas, while the percentage of luminal B tumours was higher in grades 2 and 3 (Pearson Chi-square P = 0.009). No difference in the percentage of molecular subtypes was found between simple and complex/mixed carcinomas (Pearson Chi-square P = 0.47). No significant results were obtained by survival analysis, even if basal-like tumours had a more favourable prognosis than luminal-like lesions.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The panel of antibodies identified only three tumour groups (luminal-like A and B, and basal-like) in the dog. Even though canine mammary tumours may be a model of human breast cancer, the existence of the same carcinoma molecular subtypes in women awaits confirmation. Canine mammary carcinomas show high molecular heterogeneity, which would benefit from a classification based on molecular differences. Stage and grade showed independent associations with survival in the multivariate regression, while molecular subtype grouping and histological type did not show associations. This suggests that caution should be used when applying this classification to the dog, in which invasion and grade supply the most important prognostic information.</p

The Conspiracy Money Machine: Uncovering Telegram's Conspiracy Channels and their Profit Model

In recent years, major social media platforms have implemented increasingly strict moderation policies, resulting in bans and restrictions on conspiracy theory-related content. To circumvent these restrictions, conspiracy theorists are turning to alternatives, such as Telegram, where they can express and spread their views with fewer limitations. Telegram offers channels -- virtual rooms where only administrators can broadcast messages -- and a more permissive content policy. These features have created the perfect breeding ground for a complex ecosystem of conspiracy channels. In this paper, we illuminate this ecosystem. First, we propose an approach to detect conspiracy channels. Then, we discover that conspiracy channels can be clustered into four distinct communities comprising over 17,000 channels. Finally, we uncover the "Conspiracy Money Machine," revealing how most conspiracy channels actively seek to profit from their subscribers. We find conspiracy theorists leverage e-commerce platforms to sell questionable products or lucratively promote them through affiliate links. Moreover, we observe that conspiracy channels use donation and crowdfunding platforms to raise funds for their campaigns. We determine that this business involves hundreds of donors and generates a turnover of over $90 million

Establishment of a patient-derived intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma xenograft model with KRAS mutation.

BACKGROUND: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is an aggressive, highly lethal tumors and lacks of effective chemo and targeted therapies. Cell lines and animal models, even partially reflecting tumor characteristics, have limits to study ICC biology and drug response. In this work, we created and characterized a novel ICC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) model of Italian origin. METHODS: Seventeen primary ICC tumors derived from Italian patients were implanted into NOD (Non-Obese Diabetic)/Shi-SCID (severe combined immunodeficient) mice. To verify if the original tumor characteristics were maintained in PDX, immunohistochemical (cytokeratin 7, 17, 19, and epithelial membrane antigen) molecular (gene and microRNA expression profiling) and genetic analyses (comparative genomic hybridization array, and mutational analysis of the kinase domain of EGFR coding sequence, from exons 18 to 21, exons 2 to 4 of K-RAS, exons 2 to 4 of N-RAS, exons 9 and 20 of PI3KCA, and exon 15 of B-RAF) were performed after tumor stabilization. RESULTS: One out of 17 (5.8 %) tumors successfully engrafted in mice. A high molecular and genetic concordance between primary tumor (PR) and PDX was confirmed by the evaluation of biliary epithelial markers, tissue architecture, genetic aberrations (including K-RAS G12D mutation), and transcriptomic and microRNA profiles. CONCLUSIONS: For the first time, we established a new ICC PDX model which reflects the histology and genetic characteristics of the primary tumor; this model could represent a valuable tool to understand the tumor biology and the progression of ICC as well as to develop novel therapies for ICC patients. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-016-2136-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users