The Impact of Earthquakes on Economic Activity: Evidence from Italy

Although earthquakes are large idiosyncratic shocks for affected regions, little is known of their impact on economic activity. Seismic events are rare, the data is crude (the Richter scale measures the magnitude but says nothing of the associated damages) and counterfactuals are often entirely absent. We suggest an innovative identification strategy to address these issues based on the so-called ’Mercalli scale’ ranks - a geophysical methodology devised to gauge seismic damages relying on a newly compiled dataset following 95 Italian provinces from 1986 to 2011 (including 22 seismic episodes) offering an ideal ground for identification. Also, we carry out counterfactuals taking advantage of ex ante identical neighboring provinces that only differ ex post in terms of damages. Contrary to conventional views, we find that the impact of seismic events on output is negligible (or even positive) including after the most devastating events

Reconstruction multipliers

A law issued to allocate reconstruction grants following the 2009 "Aquilano" earthquake has resulted in a large and unanticipated discontinuity across municipalities with comparable damages. Using diff-in-diff analysis we estimate the "local spending" and the "local tax" multipliers--according to the composition of the stimulus--controlling for the negative supply shock generated by the event. The stimulus prevented a fall in economic activity and the multiplicative effects of tax cuts are estimated much higher than those of spending. Our results underline the importance of countercyclical fiscal interventions and suggest the most effective composition of such a stimulus

Fluorescent staining of Neurospora nuclei with DAPI

Fluorescent staining of Neurospora nuclei with DAP

Reconstruction multipliers

A law issued to allocate reconstruction grants following the 2009 "Aquilano" earthquake has resulted in a large and unanticipated discontinuity across municipalities with comparable damages. Using diff-in-diff analysis we estimate the "local spending" and the "local tax" multipliers--according to the composition of the stimulus--controlling for the negative supply shock generated by the event. The stimulus prevented a fall in economic activity and the multiplicative effects of tax cuts are estimated much higher than those of spending. Our results underline the importance of countercyclical fiscal interventions and suggest the most effective composition of such a stimulus

Shake me the money!

During a natural disaster, the negative supply shock due to the destruction of productive capacity is counteracted by a positive demand shock due to public grants for assistance and reconstruction positing an identification issue in empirical work. Focusing on the 2009 'Aquilano' earthquake in Italy as a case study, we take advantage of quantified measure of damages for 75,424 buildings to estimate the negative supply shock and of a law issued to allocate reconstruction grants, which resulted in a sharp, exogenous discontinuity in transfers and output behavior across neighboring municipalities to estimate the positive demand shock. Diff-in-diff analysis suggests that local output multipliers of reconstruction grants (net of marginal tax rebates) are below unity. Yet the size of the grants act as a public insurance scheme, preventing a fall in output

Vascular Complications following Isolated Limb Perfusion for Local Recurrence of Extremity Melanoma: A Case Report and Literature Review

Introduction. To evaluate the role of hyperthermic isolated limb perfusion (HILP) in arterial thrombosis following melanoma-soft tissue sarcoma chemotherapy. Report. Here is presented one case of iliac-common femoral artery subacute thrombosis and a review of the appropriate literature performed using a MEDLINE search. Acute/subacute arterial occlusion is one of the most feared vascular complications of HILP, located nearly always in the external iliac-femoral artery axis, being those vessels cannulated for perfusion. Conclusions. The small number of reported cases indicates either the rarity of this complication or unawareness of its existence. The true incidence of this complication is probably underreported

Swelling of positronium confined in a small cavity

The electron density at the positron (contact density) in the ground state positronium (Ps) formed in condensed matter is generally found to be lower than in vacuum. This is usually attributed to microscopic electric fields which polarize Ps, by acting on the two particles of the atom. In this paper we quantitatively investigate an opposite effect. It is due to the confinement of Ps in small cavities existing in the host solid (e.g. free volume in polymers), which increases the contact density. Although this phenomenon is greater, the smaller is the size of the cavity, Ps polarization seems to play anyway a predominant role

Resposta de Borreria latifolia e Richardia brasiliensis a doses do herbicida glyphosate em pós-emergência.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar e ajustar a resposta de plantas de ervaquente (Borreria latifolia) e poaia-branca (Richardia brasiliensis) a diferentes concentrações do herbicida glyphosate. O estudo foi desenvolvido em casa-de-vegetação, arranjado em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições. Foram avaliadas nove concentrações de do herbicida glyphosate (0, 43, 73, 124, 211, 360, 612, 1040 e 1768 g e.a. ha-1) para o controle de Borreria latifolia e Richardia brasiliensis. Realizou-se avaliações de controle aos 14 e 28 dias após a aplicação (DAA) e massa da parte aérea seca. Com os resultados obtidos, evidenciou-se controle satisfatório para as duas espécies estudadas com o emprego da dose 612 g e.a. ha-1. Em decorrência ao maior controle de erva-quente e poaia-branca, observou-se também uma maior redução da MPAS atingindo aproximadamente 100% com o emprego da dose de 1040 g e.a. ha-1

Influence of Quince rootstocks on Entomosporium Leaf Spot (Entomosporium mespili) susceptibility in European Pear cv. Abate Fetel

Entomosporium leaf spot (ELS) is caused by the fungus Fabraea maculata (anamorph: Entomosporium mespili) and affects most pear cultivars and quince rootstocks in Brazil. The aim of this study was to characterize the effect of Adams, EMA and EMC quince rootstocks on ELS in European pear cultivar “Abate Fetel” in Southern Brazil, during the 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 growing season. The incidence and severity of disease was quantified weekly in 100 randomly leaves distributed in four medium-height branches per plant with eight replications. Disease progress curves of ELS were constructed and the epidemics compared according to: (1) the beginning of symptoms appearance (BSA); (2) the time to reach the maximum disease incidence and severity (TRMDI and TRMDS); (3) area under the incidence and severity disease progress curve (AUIDPC and AUSDPC). The data were analyzed by linear regression and adjusted for three empirical models: Logistic, Monomolecular and Gompertz. The Abate Fetel cultivar under all rootstocks evaluated was susceptible to E. mespili. However, there were significant differences in ELS intensity among rootstocks evaluated. The highest ELS intensities were observed in combinations with EMA and Adams quince rootstock. Abate Fetel cultivar grafted on EMC quince rootstock showed all epidemiological variables results significantly different when compared with EMA quince rootstock. EMC quince rootstock induced late resistance compared with the other considerated rootstocks. The Logistic model was the most appropriates to describe the ELS progress of Abate Fetel cultivar under all rootstocks evaluated in the edafoclimatic conditions of Southern Brazil, during the 2009/2010, 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 growing season